What are hospital-acquired infections?
Hospital-acquired infections are infections that patients contract during hospital stays. C. difficile is one of the most common hospital-acquired infections.
What is C. difficile?
C. difficile (Clostridium difficile) is a spore-forming bacteria which can be part of the normal bacteria found in the large intestine. A C. difficile infection occurs when other good bacteria in the bowel are eliminated or decreased allowing the C. difficile bacteria to grow and produce toxin. The toxin produced can damage the bowel and cause diarrhea.
Who is at risk for C. difficile?
Healthy people are not usually susceptible to C. difficile. Certain people are at increased risk for acquiring C. difficile. Risk factors include:
- History of antibiotic usage
- Bowel surgery
- Chemotherapy
- Prolonged hospitalization
- Being elderly
- Serious underlying illness or debilitation
What are the symptoms of C. difficile?
The usual symptoms are mild but can be severe. Main symptoms include watery diarrhea, fever, abdominal pain and tenderness. Blood may or may not be present in the stools. Inform your doctor if you experience diarrhea at any time during a hospital stay or within 72 hours of being discharged.
How is C. difficile diagnosed?
C. difficile is diagnosed by testing a stool specimen for the presence of the C. difficile toxin.
How is C. difficile treated?
Treatment depends on how sick you are. People with mild symptoms may not need treatment. For more severe symptoms, antibiotics are required.
How does C. difficile spread?
When a person has C. difficile, the germs in the stool can soil surfaces such as toilets, handles, bedpans, or commode chairs. When others touch these items, their hands can become soiled and then transfer the germs to the mouth as well as to other surfaces.
What can I do to protect myself from C.difficile while I am in or visiting the hospital?
Frequent hand-cleaning is the best way to minimize risk of acquiring any communicable infection.
What is The Royal doing to minimize the risk of patients contracting C.difficile at their facilities?
Good hand hygiene (i.e. cleaning hands thoroughly and often) is the single-most effective way to prevent the spread of infectious diseases like C. difficile. The Royal is committed to promoting hand hygiene for patient care. We provide access to alcohol-based hand products as well as soap and water throughout the facility for staff, patients and visitors to use. We also follow the advice of the Ontario “Just Clean Your Hands” including providing education to staff and auditing our hand-cleaning practices.
Any patient with C. difficile diarrhea will be isolated until free of the symptoms for at least two days. All health care staff that enters the patient’s room will wear a gown and gloves, and will clean their hands when leaving the room.
The Royal also works with its housekeeping team to ensure a clean hospital environment and that best practices are followed for cleaning in situations where patients are identified with C.difficile.