The report, published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, suggested the infections were caused by contaminated implants, the patient's skin or poor sterilisation and cleanliness in the surgical theatre.

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Writing in The Lancet Infectious Diseases medical journal, Prof Laura Piddock of the school of immunity and infection at the University of Birmingham warned there were global implications from the misuse of antibiotics, and drug companies' failures to develop new ones.

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The study was published in the medical journal Lancet Infectious Diseases.

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