C. difficile Strain Plaguing Canadian Hospital

Canadian news outlet The Province is reporting that an aggressive strain of Clostridium difficile is flourishing again in Nanaimo Regional General Hospital (NRGH), a strain similar to one that has killed 1,400 people in Quebec since 2003. According to the Vancouver Island Health Authority, C. diff has killed three people at NRGH since April and infected 50 others. Derek Spalding of the Nanaimo Daily News reports that incidents of C. difficile doubled to 16 patients in July, up from eight in June. Spalding writes, “So far in August there have been 15 reported infections. Ten patients still had the infection as of Wednesday, according to Dr. David Forrest, infection control expert for the Vancouver Island Health Authority.” To read the complete article, CLICK HERE.