C. difficile
Associated Disease (CDAD) Rate Reporting
C. difficile
is one of the many types of bacteria that can be found in feces (bowel
movement), and has been a known cause of health care-associated
diarrhea for about 30 years. Learn more about
C. difficile...
STEGH posts its infection rates online on a monthly basis
with new information posted on our site, and on the Ministry’s website,
on the last day of every month, beginning September 26, 2008.
Public reporting of our hospital’s C. difficile rates will allow
us to establish a baseline from which we can then track our rates over
time. If we feel our rates have risen above our baseline, we can look
internally at our hospital’s processes, identify areas for improvement,
and implement strategies to reduce the incidence of C. difficile in
our organization. Public reporting of C. difficile rates is
another, helpful measure to ensure the care provided to our patients is
even safer, and improves over time.
The C. difficile infection rate is calculated as a
rate per 1,000 patient days. The "total patient days"
represents the sum of the number of days during which services were
provided to all inpatients during the given time period.
The rate is calculated as follows:
Number of new hospital acquired cases of C. difficile in
our facility x 1000
Total number of
patient days (for one month)
What are hospital-acquired cases?
Sometimes when patients are admitted to the hospital, they
can get infections. These are called hospital-acquired infections. In
the case of C. difficile, this may mean that symptoms began 72
hours after admission to the hospital; or that the infection was
present at the time of admission but was related to a previous
admission to that hospital within the last four weeks.
STEGH C. difficile
Rates as Reported to the Ministry
|
|
Jan 2011
|
Feb
2011
|
March
2011
|
April
2011
|
May
2011
|
June 2011
|
July 2011
|
Aug 2011
|
Sept
2011
|
Oct 2011
|
Nov 2011
|
Dec 2011
|
|
#
of new cases
of C. difficile
|
<5
|
0
|
<5
|
<5
|
<5
|
<5
|
0
|
<5
|
0
|
<5
|
<5
|
<5 |
|
C.
difficile Rate
|
.26
|
0
|
.24
|
.53
|
1.0
|
0.52
|
0
|
0.48
|
0
|
0.24
|
0.49
|
0.48
|
|
|
Jan 2010
|
Feb
2010
|
March
2010
|
April
2010
|
May
2010
|
June 2010
|
July 2010
|
Aug 2010
|
Sept
2010
|
Oct 2010
|
Nov 2010
|
Dec 2010
|
|
#
of new cases
of C. difficile
|
<5
|
0
|
0
|
<5
|
<5
|
<5
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
<5
|
0
|
<5
|
|
C.
difficile Rate
|
.24
|
0
|
0
|
.26
|
.26
|
.26
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
.29
|
0
|
.29
|
View
2009 Rates
|
|
Jan
2009
|
Feb
2009
|
Mar
2009
|
Apr
2009
|
May
2009
|
June 2009
|
July 2009
|
Aug
2009
|
Sept
2009
|
Oct
2009
|
Nov
2009
|
Dec 2009
|
|
# of new cases
of C. difficile
|
<5
|
<5
|
<5
|
<5
|
0
|
<5
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
<5
|
<5
|
0
|
|
C. difficile Rate
|
.22
|
.25
|
.23
|
.29
|
0
|
.79
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
.80
|
.58
|
.00
|
View 2008 Rates
|
|
Sept 2008
|
Oct 2008
|
Nov 2008
|
Dec 2008
|
|
# of new cases
of C. difficile
|
<5
|
0
|
<5
|
<5
|
|
C. difficile Rate
|
.47
|
0
|
.22
|
.22
|
All Ontario
hospitals now report their C. difficile rates
monthly. STEGH reported zero (0) new cases to the MOHLTC in August,
however, we recognized that the absence of C.
difficile in our Hospital is not necessarily our norm. STEGH
reported < 5 cases for September. (The number < 5 was chosen by
the MOHLTC to depict new cases from 1 - 4 to protect the privacy of our
patients.) At any point in time, it is not unusual for STEGH, or any
other hospital in the country to report the presence of C.
difficile in their facility. At STEGH, we continue to monitor all
cases of C. difficile in our
Hospital and we have numerous infection control processes in place to
minimize the risk of infection spreading to other patients. We continue
to work together to reduce all hospital acquired infections, including
C. difficile.
Visit the Ministry of Health Care and Long-Term Care website
to view other hospital's rates
If you have any questions about
this information or about our hospital’s infection prevention
and control program, please contact
us .
STEGH - Working
hard to manage the spread of C. difficile
Unfortunately, like many hospitals in
Ontario our size, on any given day, STEGH likely has patients in isolation
with infectious diseases such as C. difficile. Our focus on
patient and staff safety includes a concerted effort in preventing and
managing C. difficile in this
facility.
The STEGH Infection Control Committee has
supported and recommended a number of strategies to minimize risk as
outlined in our policies and procedures.
STEGH
uses multiple controls to prevent the spread of C. difficile, which includes but is not limited to:
- Hand hygiene
facilitation:
Alcohol based hand rub
(ABHR) has been strategically placed at Point of Care within the
patient’s environment so that all care providers can easily access
it. STEGH participated in the MOHLTC Just Clean Your Hands pilot
and continues to emphasize hand hygiene practice as one of the key
components to prevent spread.
- Education: STEGH staff has been
educated on the procedure for managing C. difficile which is based on the Provincial Infectious
Disease Advisory Committee’s (PIDAC) C. difficile Best Practice Guidelines. Infection Control practices
are audited on a regular basis.
- Use of Personal
Protective Equipment (PPE): The
use of PPE (gown, and gloves) is required by all who enter the
patient environment.
- Isolation requirements: Our control measures
include appropriate patient placement. Patients with diarrhea will
have ‘Enhanced Contact’ isolation signage posted outside their
room that reviews all necessary instructions that must be followed
by all as they enter and exit the patient room. The isolation
signage provides a visible communication tool that prompts
enhanced environmental cleaning.
- Tracking Patient Care
Needs:
The health care team
reviews each patient with C. difficile
symptoms daily, to determine the patient’s response to treatment
and to alter care as required.
- Environmental cleaning is ongoing using
recommended germicides.
- STEGH conducts
twice-daily room cleaning for patients requiring Enhanced Contact
Precautions.
- A new sporacidal agent
is part of the new cleaning practices. This cleaner is used to
clean all components of the patient environment.
- Our cleaning staff is
well trained and is dedicated to keeping our hospital clean and
safe for our patients.
- Ongoing audits of the management of C. difficile.