Recent reports indicate that hospital staffers, including janitors, were not following proper infection control and cross-contamination procedures leading up to the death of four patients who contracted C. difficult (C. diff) in Cape Breton, Canada, earlier this year.
According to CBC News reporting, some staff at Glace Bay General Hospital and Cape Breton Regional Hospital in Sydney weren't donning new gloves for each patient room or properly disposing of protective equipment. Health officials are working with the staff to educate and train them on the importuning of following procedure.
Although precautionary measures are in place, reports of C. diff have continued to rise in Canada. In one month, there were 14 confirmed cases in one hospital and 15 in the other, up from an average of three to five a month.
To help control the spread of the infection, patients were to be placed in private rooms and have their own dedicated equipment. The rooms were to be cleaned with bleach twice a day and everyone was to wash their hands regularly with soap and water.
Infection-control auditors were also brought in to address deficiencies in the cleaning program. They found that often, areas were not being cleaned well enough or with with right equipment. Some workers were using spray wands to clean toilets and bedpans, which can spread bacteria.
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