C. difficile Outbreak Causes Concern At Local Hospital
Posted June 3, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Adam Mazzuca’s 76-year-old father caught C. difficile in February after going in for heart surgery at Toronto’s St. Michael’s Hospital.
On Tuesday, news of as many as seven patients in the cardiac ward battling the superbug hit a little too close to home for the son, who still remembers the calm before his father’s storm.
“We really did enter that hospital thinking that kind of thing was rare,” Mazzuca recalled. “It was the furthest thing from our minds.”
And yet it’s front and centre again, halting elective surgery on the seventh floor of the downtown facility after the weekend outbreak.
This time, unlike in the case of the elder Mazzuca, the incident isn’t isolated to one person.
“We put in place enhanced environmental cleaning and then we had an eight-week period where we did not have any hospital-acquired C. difficile on that unit,” said Dr. Roz Devlin with St. Mike’s Infection Control. “It seems to have come back.”
C. difficile is drug-resistant bacteria that causes extreme diarrhea and can be deadly especially to those whose immune systems are already weakened by other illness.
“It doesn’t cause disease in normal, healthy people,” Devlin assures.
Recently Ontario’s Health Ministry announced plans to mandate disclosure from hospitals dealing with outbreaks of the illness.
“As of September 30th in the province of Ontario all information with respect to C. difficile rates will be reported,” promised Health Minister George Smitherman on Tuesday.
Still, opposition voices suggest any such legislation is a case of too little, too late.
“People are not feeling confident about safety in the province of Ontario when it comes to C. difficile,” charged health critic Elizabeth Witmer.
One such individual is Adam Mazzuca, who’s still waiting to witness his father’s full recovery.
“We’re six months later and he’s still not over it,” Mazzuca lamented. “Hopefully he will be, but we still don’t know.”
St. Michael’s Hospital Statement
St. Michael’s Hospital is assuring the public that it is safe to come into the Hospital despite a small C. difficile outbreak. The Hospital has reported the following details:
A total of seven confirmed cases of C. difficile within the cardiovascular surgery unit and cardiovascular ICU
– The cause of the outbreak is under investigation
– No new cases have been reported
The situation is confined to these areas of the Hospital only, and does NOT impact any other units and inpatient or outpatient areas.
Our top priority is the safety of our patients and our staff. We are taking precautionary measures to protect our patients, staff and physicians, while ensuring that we provide the best possible care. The small number of patients involved have been isolated and put under contact precautions with visitor limitations. As an extra precaution, the small number of unaffected patients on the unit have also been put under contact precautions with visitor limitations and the Hospital has cancelled elective cardiovascular surgeries only at this time. Patients scheduled for elective cardiovascular surgery are being contacted directly by their surgeon.
For patients scheduled for any other type of surgery or those with an appointment at a clinic are asked to proceed to their appointment as planned. Further visitor information is available on our website.
We are continuing to work vigilantly with staff to curb further spread of this outbreak of infection.
What Is It?
Clostridium difficile or C. difficile is a bacterium that causes diarrhea and more serious intestinal conditions such as colitis. It is the most common cause of infectious diarrhea in hospitalized patients in the industrialized world. It is also one of the most common infections in hospitals and long-term care facilities.
How do people get C. difficile?
Healthy people are not usually vulnerable to C. difficile. People who have other illnesses or conditions requiring prolonged use of antibiotics and the elderly are at greater risk of infection. C. difficile bacteria are found in feces. People can become infected if they touch items or surfaces that are contaminated with feces and then touch their mouths or mucous membranes. Health care workers can spread the bacteria to other patients or contaminate surfaces through hand contact.
What can be done to prevent its spread?
As with any infectious disease, frequent hand washing is one of the best defenses.
What are the symptoms of C. difficile infection?
Symptoms include:
- watery diarrhea (at least three bowel movements per day for two or more days)
- fever
- loss of appetite
- nausea
- abdominal pain/tenderness
Is C. difficile fatal?
In rare cases, C. difficile can be fatal. More commonly, the infection causes diarrhea. Diarrhea can lead to serious complications, including dehydration.
How can C. difficile be treated?
For people with mild symptoms, no treatment is required. The symptoms usually clear up once the patient stops using antibiotics. For severe cases, medication and surgical interventions may be required.
Notes from Public Health Agency Of Canada
