Clostridium difficile :: Trillium Health Centre steps up to stop C. difficile

Trillium Health Centre, which serves the communities of Mississauga and Toronto, is currently experiencing an increase in the number and severity of adult patient cases with Clostridium difficile or C. difficile.

C. difficile is a bacterium that is found commonly in the gastrointestinal tracts of up to 50 percent of healthy babies and young children and in less than five percent of children older than two years of age and in adults. This bacteria can be found in hospitals, long-term care facilities and child care facility environments.

Certain people are at increased risk for acquiring C. difficile. These risk factors include:
? A history of antibiotic usage
? Bowel surgery
? Chemotherapy
? Prolonged hospitalization.

Additional risk factors that predispose some people to develop more severe disease include:
? Increased age
? Serious underlying illness or debilitation.

As in other hospitals, there have been a number of patients who have shown symptoms of C. difficile infection at Trillium. Although four patients with symptoms have died in the last two months, due to the medical complexity of these patients we have not been able to conclusively determine that C. difficile was the specific cause of death in these cases. There are currently 14 known cases of patients that have C. difficile infection at Trillium.

The safety of Trillium patients is always a paramount priority. Although strict infection control protocols already exist and are used in the facility, Trillium is working closely with Peel Public Health to ensure the action plan is as comprehensive as possible, to minimize the number of patients who develop infection and to reduce the possibility of transmission.

The key parts of our action plan continue to include:
(1) isolating suspected patients and placing them on Contact Precautions;
(2) ongoing education for staff, physicians, and volunteers;
(3) enhanced cleaning of patient rooms and areas where C. difficile might be present;
(4) education for patients, families, and visitors about proper hand washing.

Trillium is working closely with Peel Public Health to investigate the increase in severity of infection in patient cases as well as to implement the action plan. Even though the risk to the community is low, patients and their families are encouraged to follow basic hand washing practices when visiting the hospital.


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