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Hospital prevention of C. diff transmission depends heavily on both improved hygiene practices and rigid infection control protocols.
United States: A dangerous hospital-associated infection spreads much faster than medical experts previously imagined according to recent research findings, as reported by HealthDay.
The spread of Clostridium difficile bacterium called C. diff occurs at much higher rates within intensive care units compared to previously known levels according to researchers who published their study in JAMA Network Open.
The bacterium C. diff remains hidden for lengthy periods as it silently spreads between surfaces in ICUs for several weeks prior to patient transmission according to researchers.
Hidden Threat Lingers on Surfaces for Weeks
“There’s a lot going on under the hood that we’re just not seeing,” senior researcher Dr. Michael Rubin, an epidemiologist and infectious diseases specialist at the University of Utah, said in a news release. “And if we ignore that, then we’re potentially putting patients at unnecessary risk.”
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that C. diff primarily attacks individuals whose intestinal bacteria died from strong antibiotic medications. The opportunistic bacterium takes over the place of healthy bacteria leading to diarrhea alongside abdominal pain and fever.
Tough Bacteria Withstand Disinfection
During the study the researchers highlighted the resilient nature of this bacterial strain. When outside the body, C. diff remains intact as spores with protective coatings that resist antibacterial cleansers, including alcohol-based solutions.
Researchers reported in their background notes that a C. diff infection results in death for about 6% of patients in the United States.
The disease passes easily from person to person, but researchers have not yet understood how it occurs in healthcare settings. Research findings showed that patient-to-patient transmission remained uncommon in previous studies.
Surface-to-Patient Transmission Higher
Researchers obtained C. diff samples from almost 200 patients in two ICUs while collecting thousands of surface samples as well as hand samples from healthcare professionals throughout the facilities.
Using genetic analysis, the team traced bacterial strains of C. diff throughout a hospital setting precisely.
The study showed that 10% of ICU patients encountered C. diff bacteria either on their bodies or surrounding their hospital rooms.
Genetic tests indicated the C. diff bacteria matched those found on other patient bodies and rooms which implied the bacteria transferred between patients instead of entering from outside hospital walls.
“We find about the same amount of patient-to-patient transmission as previous studies,” lead investigator Lindsay Keegan, a research associate professor in epidemiology at the University of Utah Health, said in a news release.
“But what we find that’s novel is that there is a lot more movement of C. diff between surfaces, from surface-to-patient, and from patient-to-surface than previously found,” Keegan added.
Laboratory evidence indicates that C. diff transmission increased by 3.6 times when hands and surfaces were included in the investigation as opposed to testing only direct patient-to-patient spread.
According to researchers half of the identified C. diff transmission events happened between patients who were not present simultaneously in the hospital. Hospitals kept patients with separate hospitalization periods stretching multiple weeks apart.
The findings indicate how bacteria transported unintentionally from one person can persist on surfaces that lay ready to transmit to future patients, according to the scientists who conducted the research.
“What I’m hoping we get from this paper is that health care providers put a greater emphasis on infection prevention measures and adhere to them as much as they possibly can,” Rubin said.
Call to Action: Reinforce Infection Control
Rigorous handwashing should be combined with glove and gown use as essential protective equipment for safe practice according to Rubin, as reported by HealthDay.
“Those are the measures that can help interrupt this type of invisible transmission.”
