| Mandatory reporting by doctors of MRSA infections in the bloodstream - where the consequences are often more serious - was not introduced until 2001. Since then, cases rose by 6% to a high of 7,684 in 2003/4. But the following year saw a fall to a record-low of 7,212 infections - but that is still well short of the target of fewer than 4,000 cases by 2007-8. More than 40% of Staphylococcus aureus infections in the UK are MRSA - one of the highest levels in Europe.
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