Letters to the Editor
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‘New York Hospitals Expand Efforts To Reduce Infections’
Regarding “New York Hospitals Expand Efforts to Reduce Infections,” targeting the infection Clostridium difficile is urgently needed, because “C. diff” is a growing threat [New York, December 17, 2007].
It killed more patients in England last year than MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), and the same virulent strain found in England has invaded many hospitals here.
Cleanliness is vital to protect patients from C. diff. The infection causes watery diarrhea and is spread by oral-fecal contamination, meaning traces of one patient’s feces enter another patient’s mouth. Obviously poor hygiene is the cause.
Thorough cleaning of patients’ rooms, medical equipment, and bed linens is essential. At a teaching hospital in Philadelphia, three patients who consecutively occupied the same room came down with C. diff. One died. A Journal of Hospital Infection study showed that one third of blood pressure cuffs rolled from room to room were contaminated with C. diff. It’s a short trip from the cuff to the patient’s arm, then their fingertips and into their mouth. When C. diff infections quadrupled at the University of Pittsburgh-Presbyterian Medical Center in 2000, researchers found that rigorous cleaning with bleach helped tame the outbreak.
What can patients do to protect themselves? Wash their hands frequently, especially before eating, avoid touching their hands to their mouth, and do not set food or utensils on furniture or bed sheets. These surfaces are often contaminated with C. diff spores, which can survive for many days. For more safeguards, see “Fifteen Steps Patients Can Take to Avoid a Hospital Infection,” at www.hospitalinfection.org.
BETSY McCAUGHEY, Ph.D.
Chairman, Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths
New York, N.Y.
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