MRSA infections have been slashed by record levels in Worcestershire hospitals as health chiefs win the war against superbugs.

The county's three main hospitals have now gone a record-breaking 65 days without a patient getting MRSA during their stay.

The Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester, Kidderminster Hospital and the Alexandra in Redditch had just a single case of MRSA between them in January and one in February.

Both patients were diagnosed within 48 hours of coming to hospital, which suggests they were probably infected before they arrived.

The last hospital-acquired infection was on December 23 last year. Before that, the trust went 47 days without a patient contracting the bug.

Meanwhile, concern nationally has been raised about rising rates of Clostridium difficle, C.diff, which is now a bigger killer than MRSA according to Office for National Statistics figures.

John Rostill, chief executive of the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which manages the hospitals, said: "We have a culture now of zero tolerance for hospital infections. There has been a significant and sustained improvement, particularly in relation to MRSA. We now need to do the same with Clostridium difficile."

Between August 2007 and January 2008 there were 181 cases of C.difficile in Worcestershire's hospitals - 107 cases, or 59 per cent of them, at the Royal.

Dr Anne Dyas, director of infection prevention and control, announced the results at the trust's board meeting on Thursday. A new screening clerk had helped cut MRSA, she said.

Trust chairman Michael O'Riordan said a pilot £270,000-a-year isolation unit at the Alexandera could be introduced at the Royal if it was successful.

The trust is also on schedule to complete its £1 million deep clean this month, which involves steam cleaning and even pulling beds apart to scrub them.

Initiatives such as the "Think Clean Day" on Thursday are also designed to raise awareness of preventing hospital infections among visitors.