C. difficile increase at Sturgeon hospital vexes AHS

New cleaning products are being tested at St. Albert's Sturgeon hospital to deal withan increase in the number of patients getting Clostridiumdifficile.

C. difficile is an infection that can be serious, causing diarrhea and inflammation.

Itis most often acquired in hospitals, and outbreaks are a challenge to containbecause the disease is highly contagious.

Between 13 and 17 cases were reported at the Sturgeon Community Hospital in St. Albert between April and June, up from 6 to 10 cases during the same periodlast year.

"We may switch to different cleaning products if we are concerned about Clostridium difficile,"saidDr. MarkJoffe,senior medical director for infection prevention and control withAlberta Health Services.

"Some products work better than others," he said. "Same thing with cleaning of equipment that may be shared between different patients."

A new strain of the bacteria could be the reason hospital officials are seeing an increase in cases, but better reportingmay be responsible as well, meaning cases that were missedbefore arenow be being identified, Joffe said.

"There are some standard treatment orders that are now being used to make sure that every patient is managed the same way, that tests are done, that the right antibiotics are used for treatment," he said.