Hospital-acquired C. difficile Linked to Human Deaths

November 29, 2006 — 

Over the last six months, four patients have died after contracting Clostridium difficile, and 22 new people have become infected in the last month at the Trois-Rivières regional health center, which is about 125 kilometers east of Montreal. The bacteria has been linked to the deaths of three additional patients at l'hôpital Ste-Croix in Drummondville located about 100 kilometers east of Montreal. St. Hyacinthe's Honoré Mercier hospital said on Friday that a 12th person has died from the bacteria. Thirty-one patients at the hospital have been infected with C. difficile in the last two months.

Human infections of C. difficile, often acquired in hospitals, are associated with the use of antibiotics. Infections cause severe diarrhea and are sometimes fatal. The infections have been an ongoing problem in Quebec hospitals since 2004. They have been known to kill more than 450 patients in the province in one year.

Source:
CBC News