Current Reports

Hand Hygiene Rate Reporting

April 1, 2009- March 31, 2010: 

• 88.89% compliance before initial patient/patient environment
• 78.63% compliance after patient/patient environment.

Current Statistics: Infectious Diseases

	NUMBER OF NEW CASES	RATE OF INFECTION*	DATES	HISTORICAL RECORDS
CDAD	< 5	0.26%	December 2011	[PDF Comming Soon]
MRSA	<5	0.09%	July 1 to September 30, 2011	[PDF Comming Soon]
VRE	0	0%	July 1 to September 30, 2011	[PDF Comming Soon]

* Rate is calculated as follows: Number of new hospital acquired (HA) cases in our facility x 1000 divided by Total number of patient days (for one month).

C. Difficile

What is C. difficile?

C. difficile is one of the many types of bacteria that can be found in feces (bowel movement), and has been a known cause of health care-associated diarrhea for about 30 years.

Where does C. difficile come from?

C. difficile is not new. Although people may associate it with health care settings, it doesn’t come from hospitals, long-term care homes or laboratories. It is found in the intestine, occurring naturally in 3-5% of adults (more commonly in the elderly) without causing symptoms.

What causes C. Difficile?

C. difficile can be picked up on the hands from exposure in the environment and can get into the stomach once the mouth is touched, or if food is handled and then swallowed. Once in the stomach, the bacteria usually will not cause any problems unless the other bowel bacteria are disturbed, which can happen when antibiotics are taken. The use of antibiotics increases the chances of developing C. difficile diarrhea as it alters the normal level of good bacteria found in the intestines and colon.

Without the presence of the normal bowel bacteria, the C. difficile bacteria may start to grow and produce a toxin that can damage the bowel and lead to watery diarrhea, fever and abdominal pain or tenderness.

How does C. Difficile spread?

When a person has C. difficile, the bacteria in their feces can contaminate surfaces such as toilets, bedpans, commode chairs, and door handles (if feces is on hands). Other healthy individuals can contaminate their hands if they touch these items. If these individuals then touch their mouths without washing their hands, they can become infected.

The spread of C. difficile occurs due to inadequate hand hygiene and environmental cleaning. C. difficile produces spores that survive for long periods and are resistant to destruction by many environmental factors (e.g. temperature, humidity).

Good hand hygiene is the single-most effective way to prevent the spread of infectious diseases like C. difficile. 

MRSA

What is MRSA?

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a type of bacteria that is resistant to certain or all types of the beta-lactam classes of antibiotics, such as penicillins, penicillinase-resistant penicillins (e.g. cloxacillin) and cephalosporins. MRSA are strains of S. aureus that have an MIC to oxacillin of = 4 mcg/ml. or contain the mecA gene coding for penicillin binding protein 2a (PBP 2a).

What causes MRSA?

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) bacteria lives on the skin, nose, the lower intestine, and may cause an infection and resist antibiotics (people may carry the bacteria without having symptoms). Risk factors for MRSA acquisition include invasive procedures, prior treatment with antibiotics, prolonged hospital stay, stay in an intensive care or burn unit, surgical wound infection and close proximity to a colonized. MRSA can also be transmitted from mother to child through breast milk.

How does MRSA spread?

The spread of MRSA occurs through contact and can live on surfaces for months. Good hand hygiene is the single-most effective way to prevent the spread of infectious diseases like MRSA. Mild cases may not require treatment and severe cases may require other antibiotics.