A MOTHER whose son died of the MRSA 'superbug' infection has called on hospital chiefs to get a grip on the problem.

Statistics released last week show the number of reported cases at the Mid Cheshire Hospitals Trust, which runs Leighton Hospital in Crewe, have risen from 14 in the six months from April to September 2003 to 20 cases in the same period last year. That is despite a new four-year low on cases nationally.

Mavis Law, of Beckenham Grove, Winsford, has been campaigning to eradicate the infection following the death of her son Colin, 32, who contracted MRSA when he was in Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham in 2003.

She now faces an anxious wait while her other son Karl, 36, is receiving treatment following surgery on his knee at Leighton.

She said: 'It is very worrying because of what happened to Colin, and Karl is constantly in and out of hospital. We don't see things in the papers about the dangers of the bug any more, yet it is still around.

'Everybody needs to know about it, people don't realise what a problem it is. I believe as many as seven out of 10 people carry it on their skin.'

Mavis is now a part of MRSA Support, a help group set up for relatives of victims, and since Colin's death has demanded that hospitals are cleaned up to prevent the spread of disease.

Mavis and her family travelled to London to speak to politicians late last year when she met Chris Malyszewicz, a microbiologist who is working towards the eradication of MRSA.

She said: 'I am so grateful to people like him, I just wish people could support his work more so he can help rid this disease.'

Now Mavis is calling on councillors and members of the public to listen to her and to educate themselves about the infection.

Last week, Leighton Hospital's director of service development, Mandy Donald, said it is committed to rid-ding its wards of the bug and will continue to implement ideas and schemes to ensure patients can be treated without fear.