Stamping Out Infection
- November 2004
- Français
When the Niagara Health System's three Co-ordinators of Infection Control get together, the air fairly buzzes with anticipation on how to tackle bugs – that is bacteria, viruses, and infections.
Sue Dolan, Sandi Dunnett and Carla Feltrin are united in their efforts to keep infections at bay in our hospitals, particularly when it comes to this time of year. October to April is the high season for infections in hospitals.
Currently in the news is the bacteria Clostridium difficile – Associated Diarrhea, also known as C. difficile,or CDAD in the clinical community. C. difficile brings with it fever, diarrhea, abdominal pain and dehydration and can occur from mild to severe forms. It is mostly found in hospital patients, mainly because it goes after those with already-compromised immune systems. "We often find C. difficile in our patients with cancer, on dialysis, who have taken antibiotics in the last four months, or patients with gastro-intestinal disorders," Sue says. "We also find it in patients who are older."
In 2002, there was an increase in the number of hospital-acquired cases of C. difficile in Niagara, and the trio of infection control experts quickly took action. "This bacterium has been around for approximately 25 years. It forms a spore, which can live in the environment for months. For that reason, we really targeted the environment as a primary means of infection control," says Sandi. "We started by changing the hospital cleaning disinfectants to an accelerated hydrogen peroxide solution, and installed hand sanitizers throughout all NHS hospitals," says Carla.
Of course, education was the key element to ensure improved infection control. "We needed to educate our staff on detecting early signs of potential C. difficile in patients, and today we are happy to say that they are really on top of it," Sandi says. Sue adds, "Staff are isolating patients quickly, hand-washing frequently between patients, and dedicating equipment such as blood-pressure cuffs to the isolated patient to help to reduce the transmission of the C. difficile spores."
"A research study after the 2002 outbreak found a 75% reduction in hospital-acquired transmission to patients with C. difficile," says Carla. "NHS Infection Control has been actively surveilling C. difficile for years, although it is not yet a reportable disease to the Public Health department."
C. difficile continues to be a priority for infection control coordinators in hospitals today, but so does influenza (flu). Again, elderly people with weakened immune systems are prey to the flu, and can catch it from their younger family members, friends and neighbours. For that reason, Ontario offers all residents a free flu shot, and the Niagara Health System has taken that one step further by offering the flu vaccine to all inpatients from October to April. "We commenced a standardized initiative across the NHS to offer the flu immunization to all our inpatients as well as staff, and we really believe it will help the community, and other health care facilities."
What can the public do to help reduce the risk of infection?
"Basic personal hygiene is still our best strategy," all three infection control coordinators emphasized. "Wash your hands with soap and water before and after meals, after using the washroom, and particularly when entering a hospital or long-term-care facility, and before leaving. You want to leave your germs at the door when you come to visit your loved one. As well, please avoid coming to visit anyone in hospital if you have any signs or symptoms of cold or flu such as stuffy nose, cough, sneezing, fever, etc."