Over the last few years, there have been several well publicized outbreaks of an infection called C. difficile (C. diff) in hospitals across Canada.
In September of 2008, Ontario hospitals began mandatory reporting of their facility C. diff rates. This information is available on each hospital’s website. The goal of this reporting is to keep the public educated about rates of healthcare-acquired illness in Ontario.
Click on one of the links below to learn more about C. diff.
C. diff is a bacterium (called Clostridum difficile) that causes diarrhea or severe colitis. The bacteria are found in feces.
Taking antibiotics increase the chance of an infection because they change the levels of good bowel bacteria. When there are fewer good bacteria, the C. diff can take over and produce dangerous toxins that can cause an infection, resulting in diarrhea or colitis.
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C. diff is the most common cause of infectious diarrhea disease in hospitals.
It can be found in up to 5% of adults and cause no symptoms or health problems. A person who carries it in the bowel and has no symptoms is ‘colonized’ with C. diff. Hospital staff can also ‘colonize’ the bacteria on their hands. They can then pass the bacteria on to those they are caring for who are more susceptible.
The bacteria spores are very resistant and can live on surfaces for months. Very specialized chemicals are required to clean these environments.
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Individual C. diff infections are not reportable to the Health Unit. However, outbreaks of any gastrointestinal illness, including C. diff, are reportable to the local public health unit as required by the Health Protection and Promotion Act.
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For more information on the hospital reporting procedure, click here.
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For more information on C. diff infections, click here.
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To access best practice documents, click here.
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