A DEADLY superbug which statistically kills one in three infected patients has surfaced at Darent Valley Hospital.

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, commonly known as Steno, was treated seven times at the Darenth Wood Road hospital between November 2007 and March this year - more than one a month.

However none of the cases resulted in deaths, despite research findings suggesting a mortality rate of 30 per cent.

Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, which covers Maidstone, Kent & Sussex, and Pembury Hospitals and sees more than double the number of patients, dealt with 10 cases in the last year, none of them fatal.

There are about 1,000 reports of Steno infections in the UK each year, 30 per cent of them fatal.

The bug flourishes in moist environments, such as around taps and shower heads. It is exclusively hospital acquired and gets into the body via devices such as catheters or ventilation tubes left in place for long periods.