State of the art computer technology will be used to assess data from hundreds of NHS wards.

This is expected to establish a breeding pattern for the viruses and develop a best practice guide to stop them spreading.

Researchers have said better analysis will give more practical results.

'Sophisticated methods'

The data analysed by the researchers includes the number of infected patients on a ward, the type of treatments and drugs they received and the methods used by hospital staff to avoid or control infections, including hygiene practices and quarantine rules.

The study, will be led by Dr Phil O'Neill, of the University of Nottingham's School of Mathematical Sciences, and Dr Ben Cooper, from the Health Protection Agency in London.

Dr O'Neill said: "The data that we have from the hospitals is exceptionally detailed, so we will be using sophisticated computational methods to extract the relevant information and analyse it.

"We believe our methods will be an improvement on the way in which this kind of information has been analysed in the past as it will allow us to look at how various factors interact with each other, which has previously been overlooked."