Niagara Falls | CRISISBOOM

Deadly superbug outbreak hits problem-plagued network of Ontario hospitals

July 4, 2011 crisisboom Comments off

A deadly outbreak of a highly contagious superbug has claimed the lives of 15 patients in Southern Ontario, raising questions about whether enough is being done to prevent and control the spread of hospital-acquired infections.

Niagara Health System, a sprawling network of seven hospitals serving 434,000 people in a dozen communities, has declared an outbreak of Clostridium difficile, commonly known as C. difficile, at three of its sites.

C. difficile is a particularly menacing infection that causes diarrhea and travels from person to person through hand contact. It is one of the most common infections in hospitals and long-term care homes.

The incidence of C. difficile has been lower in Ontario than in other jurisdictions, including Quebec, where a particularly virulent strain of the disease caused 2,000 deaths. But over the past year, the rate of infection in Ontario has climbed 33 per cent, to 0.40 per 1,000 patient days in May, 2011.

The provincial government introduced mandatory reporting in Read more…