A new, deadly and antibiotic-resistant bacteria species is thriving in Australia’s hospitals, fuelled by our addiction to sugary junk food.

Scientists are now pondering whether some hospital sweets, cakes and muffins should be banned for some patients in a bid to control the species’ spread.

“In a Western society, if you’re a bacteria that has a bit of a sweet tooth, you’re in a pretty good position,” says Dr Sam Forster, a researcher at Melbourne’s Hudson Institute of Medical Research.

Clostridium difficile is already one of the biggest health threats around the world.

It preys on patients who are given antibiotics that kill their gut bacteria, rapidly colonising the vacant territory in the gut and causing what Dr Forster describes as “pretty extreme diarrhoea”.

Infections kill about 50 people a year in Australia, and 15,000 in the US.

Read the full article at: TheAge.com.