Hospitals Report Little Success in Reducing C. diff Infection Rates
25March2013
25March2013
Even as rates of other hospital-acquired infections like MRSA have been dropping, the number of infections caused by the Clostridium difficile bacteria, or C. diff, has been on the increase. Many hospitals have established infection control strategies to reduce the risk of these deadly and potentially fatal infections. But a new survey indicates to the Seattle medical malpractice lawyers at Morrow Kidman Tinker Macey-Cushman, PLLC that many hospitals are not seeing substantial reductions in infections.
The survey involved more than 1,000 infection control professionals who belong to the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. Approximately 70 percent of these professionals worked at facilities that had adopted special strategies aimed at reducing the spread of C. diff infections. These strategies had been in place at least since March 2010.
Only 42 percent of the professionals admitted that their hospitals had seen any success in reducing these infection rates. Also, the same number of professionals admitted that they had seen no change in infection rates after incorporating new infection control strategies in their infection control programs.
Part of the reason these hospitals have had little success in reducing these infection rates could be that they have been focusing on superficial cleaning techniques. For instance, many of the hospital professionals in the survey admitted that the facilities were using enhanced cleaning procedures but were conducting only a visual inspection to see that the rooms were actually clean.
Hospital hygiene plays a major part in reducing the risk of such infections, because the germs can often be found on bed rails, tables and other surfaces. More elaborate monitoring techniques to detect the presence of bacteria on surfaces after a room has been thoroughly cleaned could help evaluate whether the cleaning has really been successful.
The Seattle medical malpractice lawyers at Morrow Kidman Tinker Macey-Cushman, PLLC represent victims of medical negligence by doctors, nurses, technicians and other medical personnel across Seattle.
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