Infonaut Newsletter :: January 2009

Jo Brant had to battle MRSA, too
The Hamilton Spectator (December 31st, 2008)

"Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital experienced an outbreak of the superbug MRSA in the fall of 2007 -- at the same time it was fighting an extended outbreak of C. difficile...Three patients were infected with both superbugs at the same time and 25 of 32 patients were placed in isolation."

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Hospital staff still battling outbreak: New case of C. difficile emerges at GNGH, bringing total to seven
The Niagara Falls Review (December 20th, 2008)

"An outbreak of the sometimes deadly C. difficile bacteria at Greater Niagara General Hospital has not yet been brought under control. Frank Demizio, the Niagara Health System's vice-president of clinical services, said Friday one new case has emerged, bringing the total number of infected patients to seven."

MRSA targets may boost other bugs
BBC News (December 15th, 2008)

"The vast majority of healthcare-associated infections are not covered by targets, Dr Michael Millar told an infectious diseases meeting in London. And intense focus on MRSA and C. difficile means other deadly bugs such as E. Coli are getting in under the radar, he said."

Hospital scrubs are a dangerous fashion statement
Infection Control Today (December 3rd, 2008)

"'You see them everywhere: nurses, doctors and medical technicians in scrubs or white coats,' says Betsy McCaughey, PhD, chairman of RID. 'They shop in them, take buses and trains in them, go to restaurants in them, and wear them home. What you can't see on these garments are the bacteria that could kill you.'"

Hospital "superbugs" on the rise despite prevention efforts, study shows
Queen’s University News Centre (November 7th, 2008)

“Since the first survey was conducted, the rates of MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) have more than doubled across Canada, from 2.0 to 5.2 per 1,000 hospital admissions. Another deadly bacterium, VRE (Vancomycin-resistant enterococcus), was found in 77 per cent more hospitals in the 2005 survey than in 1999.”

Gaps remain in monitoring hospital hygiene in Ont.: report
CBC.ca (October 30th, 2008)

“CIHI's report measuring hand hygiene and other infection controls is an important first step, but it will take a shift in culture — similar to the decades it's taken to increase use of seat belts or change attitudes toward smoking — to make hand hygiene a habit among health-care workers, said Dr. Michael Gardam, medical director at the University Health Network in Toronto.”