Drogheda C Diff cases rise to 15

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

[Posted: Thu 05/11/2009]