Pat's Note: Canada has been very quiet about C.Diff and MRSA epidemics
lately.

The deadly C.Diff NAP1 is the same strain as 027 or sometimes B1
found in European hospitals and European pigs.

Epidemics seem to occur in hospitals in pig producing areas and follow
epidemics of PMWS - Circovirus in pigs. 

he proliferation of names for the same diseases and strains clouds the
issue that sick pigs are dangerous to humans.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080815.BCCDIFF15/TPStory/National


Hospitals beef up superbug safeguards

Officials test electronic upgrade to tracking system for C. difficile
 cases; virulent strain of bacteria suspected in Nanaimo outbreak

WENDY STUECK 

August 15, 2008

VANCOUVER -- British Columbia hospitals are testing a Web-based
version of a monitoring system aimed at earlier detection of C.
difficile outbreaks such as the one that has killed three people in
Nanaimo since April.

The electronic system, being tested at some sites this summer and
expected to roll out to all hospitals this year, is an upgrade to a
paper-based surveillance protocol launched last year in the wake of
deadly C. difficile outbreaks in Quebec and Ontario.

The illness has been blamed for the deaths of as many as 2,000 people,
most of them in hospitals in Quebec during an outbreak in 2003 and
2004.

Clostridium difficile has also become a major problem in Ontario, with
outbreaks linked to hundreds of hospital deaths.


 "One of the biggest issues in Quebec was that people weren't
recognizing that people were getting sick with this disease early
enough, and there was transmission happening within the hospital,"
Bonnie Henry of the B.C. Centre for Disease Control said yesterday. 

"The same thing was happening in Ontario and occasionally we have seen
it out here."

A working group on C. difficile, chaired by Dr. Henry and part of
B.C.'s Provincial Infection Control Network, introduced the new
protocol last year. The electronic version is being piloted this
summer and is scheduled to be rolled out provincewide over the next
year, Dr. Henry said.

The system will help hospitals track cases over time to determine, for
example, whether outbreaks are happening in certain parts of the
hospital.

If that were the case, the hospital could then look at cleaning or
other practices in that area to see what could be done to stop or
lessen transmission.

C. difficile bacteria are found in feces and spread when people touch
contaminated surfaces and then touch their mouths or noses.

Healthy people aren't usually bothered by the bacteria, but sick
people, the elderly and people on antibiotics are susceptible to
infection.

A particularly virulent strain, Nap 1, has been associated with
outbreaks in Quebec and officials say that type of C. difficile could
be playing a role in the Nanaimo outbreak.

"We have had some cases of that strain here and it is very likely that
some of these cases were," Dr. Henry said. "But I suspect it's not the
whole story."

The Nap 1 variety secretes much more toxins than the regular strain
and can result in more severe symptoms, which include fever, diarrhea
and abdominal pain. It's also resistant to some drugs.

Lab tests required to determine if the Nap 1 strain is part of the
Nanaimo outbreak could take weeks or months.

"We can tell very rapidly whether a person is infected with a
toxin-secreting strain of C. difficile," Dr. Henry said. "But to find
the genetic code to see if it has the part of the gene that causes it
to be a hyper-secreting strain takes a long time."

Three people have died in the outbreak that began in April at Nanaimo
General Hospital. Ten remain infected.

When possible, the hospital puts infected patients in private rooms.
When that's not possible because of a lack of space, infected patients
are placed in rooms together, a practice called cohorting, Lesley
Moss, Vancouver Island Health Authority's executive director of
patient safety, said in an interview on Wednesday.

Over the past few years, infectious disease experts have zeroed in on
the benefits of private rooms and bathrooms in hospitals, Dr. Henry
said.

"It's just so easy to transmit infections between people, not just C.
diff," she said. "SARS really made it hit home, that there was
transmission between people in multi-bed rooms and to people coming in
to visit them."

Recent research has shown the added cost of converting wards to single
rooms or building new, single-room facilities is offset by savings in
treating disease outbreaks, she said.

In Ontario, the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario is lobbying
health officials to reduce shared patient space at the Sault Area
Hospital now under construction. 

-- 
Regards
Pat Gardiner
Release the results of testing British pigs for MRSA and C.Diff now!
www.go-self-sufficient.com  and http://animal-epidemics.blogspot.com/

On Aug 15, 4:43 am, Pat Gardiner 
wrote:
> Pat's Note: Canada has been very quiet about C.Diff and MRSA epidemics
> lately.
>
> The deadly C.Diff NAP1 is the same strain as 027 or sometimes B1
> found in European hospitals and European pigs.
>
> Epidemics seem to occur in hospitals in pig producing areas and follow
> epidemics of PMWS - Circovirus in pigs.
>
> he proliferation of names for the same diseases and strains clouds the
> issue that sick pigs are dangerous to humans.
>
> http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080815.BCCDIFF15/T...
>
> Hospitals beef up superbug safeguards
>
> Officials test electronic upgrade to tracking system for C. difficile
>  cases; virulent strain of bacteria suspected in Nanaimo outbreak
>
> WENDY STUECK
>
> August 15, 2008
>
> VANCOUVER -- British Columbia hospitals are testing a Web-based
> version of a monitoring system aimed at earlier detection of C.
> difficile outbreaks such as the one that has killed three people in
> Nanaimo since April.
>
> The electronic system, being tested at some sites this summer and
> expected to roll out to all hospitals this year, is an upgrade to a
> paper-based surveillance protocol launched last year in the wake of
> deadly C. difficile outbreaks in Quebec and Ontario.
>
> The illness has been blamed for the deaths of as many as 2,000 people,
> most of them in hospitals in Quebec during an outbreak in 2003 and
> 2004.
>
> Clostridium difficile has also become a major problem in Ontario, with
> outbreaks linked to hundreds of hospital deaths.
>
>  "One of the biggest issues in Quebec was that people weren't
> recognizing that people were getting sick with this disease early
> enough, and there was transmission happening within the hospital,"
> Bonnie Henry of the B.C. Centre for Disease Control said yesterday.
>
> "The same thing was happening in Ontario and occasionally we have seen
> it out here."
>
> A working group on C. difficile, chaired by Dr. Henry and part of
> B.C.'s Provincial Infection Control Network, introduced the new
> protocol last year. The electronic version is being piloted this
> summer and is scheduled to be rolled out provincewide over the next
> year, Dr. Henry said.
>
> The system will help hospitals track cases over time to determine, for
> example, whether outbreaks are happening in certain parts of the
> hospital.
>
> If that were the case, the hospital could then look at cleaning or
> other practices in that area to see what could be done to stop or
> lessen transmission.
>
> C. difficile bacteria are found in feces and spread when people touch
> contaminated surfaces and then touch their mouths or noses.
>
> Healthy people aren't usually bothered by the bacteria, but sick
> people, the elderly and people on antibiotics are susceptible to
> infection.
>
> A particularly virulent strain, Nap 1, has been associated with
> outbreaks in Quebec and officials say that type of C. difficile could
> be playing a role in the Nanaimo outbreak.
>
> "We have had some cases of that strain here and it is very likely that
> some of these cases were," Dr. Henry said. "But I suspect it's not the
> whole story."
>
> The Nap 1 variety secretes much more toxins than the regular strain
> and can result in more severe symptoms, which include fever, diarrhea
> and abdominal pain. It's also resistant to some drugs.
>
> Lab tests required to determine if the Nap 1 strain is part of the
> Nanaimo outbreak could take weeks or months.
>
> "We can tell very rapidly whether a person is infected with a
> toxin-secreting strain of C. difficile," Dr. Henry said. "But to find
> the genetic code to see if it has the part of the gene that causes it
> to be a hyper-secreting strain takes a long time."
>
> Three people have died in the outbreak that began in April at Nanaimo
> General Hospital. Ten remain infected.
>
> When possible, the hospital puts infected patients in private rooms.
> When that's not possible because of a lack of space, infected patients
> are placed in rooms together, a practice called cohorting, Lesley
> Moss, Vancouver Island Health Authority's executive director of
> patient safety, said in an interview on Wednesday.
>
> Over the past few years, infectious disease experts have zeroed in on
> the benefits of private rooms and bathrooms in hospitals, Dr. Henry
> said.
>
> "It's just so easy to transmit infections between people, not just C.
> diff," she said. "SARS really made it hit home, that there was
> transmission between people in multi-bed rooms and to people coming in
> to visit them."
>
> Recent research has shown the added cost of converting wards to single
> rooms or building new, single-room facilities is offset by savings in
> treating disease outbreaks, she said.
>
> In Ontario, the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario is lobbying
> health officials to reduce shared patient space at the Sault Area
> Hospital now under construction.
>
> --
> Regards
> Pat Gardiner
> Release the results of testing British pigs for MRSA and C.Diff now!www.go-self-sufficient.com andhttp://animal-epidemics.blogspot.com/

Acutally, anyone can report nearly anything electronically.   Even I
can report my local weather or fuel prices.

Hand-written, signed reports that are date and time-stamped are far
more credible.....and should be considered as such by any court,
anywhere.

Burkie

Profile of Dr. Bonnie Henry   B.C. Epidemiologist:

http://www.cdc.ubc.ca/People/BonnieHenry.htm

Burkie in Kansas