Drogheda C Diff cases rise to 15

[Posted: Thu 05/11/2009 by Niall Hunter, Editor]

There have now been 15 confirmed cases of clostridium difficiule (C Diff) infection at our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.

In addition, there have been two deaths at the hospital in patients who had the infection, but it has not yet been confirmed how directly attributable these deaths were to the C Diff bug.

The Drogheda hospital has imposed visiting restrictions and has cancelled elective surgery.

Dr Doiminic O'Brannagain, HSE Clinical Director for Louth/Meath, told irishhealth.com that a due diligence exercise was being undertaken at the hospital to try to identify possible sources of the outbreak. He said the number of current confirmed cases was 15.

C Diff is a bacteria found in the intestines. It is present in one in 20 of the healthy adult population and usually does not cause problems, but it can multiply as a result of overuse of antibiotics.

Dr O'Brannagain said the hospital had tightened up on its antibiotic prescribing policy.

C Diff symptoms include diarrhoea, stomach cramp and loss of appetite. Most people only get mildly ill with the infection but patients can become seriously and can develop inflamamtion of the bowel, which can be life-threatening.

Dr O'Brannagain said the hospital was currently examining all the possible causative and contributory factors in the current escalation of C Diff cases at the hospital. He stressed that most hospitals the size of Our Lady of Lourdes under normal circumstances could have one C Diff case per 100 beds.

Among the possible causes of the spread of C.Diff in a hospital, along with overuse of antibiotics, are lack of proper disinfection of equipment coming into contact with human faeces, such as bedpans or toilets. The C.Diff bug can be transmitted through a patient's faeces.

Effective hygiene practices by hospital staff and patients are regarded as important in preventing the spread of C Diff.

For more information on C Diff click on www.hpsc.ie

informed  Posted: 05/11/2009 01:39

The overuse of antibiotics in the elderly in hospitals and nursing homes is a disgrace. The elderly in long stay beds in hospitals and nursing homes are also given the flu vaccine/pneumococcal vaccine every year. One of the possible side effects of the H1N1 FLU vaccine Celvapan, and Pandemrix is diarrhoea and vomiting. I have had first hand experience of seeing this as both my parents spent their last days in a hospital and than a nursing home as they needed 24 hour care. Instead of giving antibiotics to the elderly every time they sniffle they would be better off giving them some nutritious food and lay off the vaccines as they only work in in people with a strong immune system.

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