Ontario: C. difficile outbreak at St. Catherines hospital

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Re: Ontario: C. difficile outbreak at St. Catherines hospital

Source: http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/Art...aspx?e=3344628

C. diff, VRE outbreaks declared over
By QMI Agency
Posted 1 hour ago

The Niagara Health System has just announced that the Clostridium difficile outbreak at the St. Catharines General Hospital is over.

Also today, an outbreak of Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) was declared over on Unit C at Greater Niagara General Site in Niagara Falls. This outbreak was declared Friday, Oct. 7.

NHS officials announced the news at a media briefing at the Ontario St. urgent care site.

In all, 102 people contracted c. difficile at NHS sites. Of those, 69 became sick at the St. Catharines hospital...

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Re: Ontario: C. difficile outbreak at St. Catherines hospital

Source: http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/Art...aspx?e=3329613

C. diff outbreak could be over soon, despite another death Tuesday
By Grant LaFleche, Standard Staff
Updated 4 hours ago

ST. CATHARINES - As the Niagara Health System announced the 36th Clostridium difficile outbreak patient death Tuesday, its interim chief of staff said she is rebooting her review of all the fatalities.

Dr. Joanna Hope said she recently received new criteria to assess C. difficile patient death cases. She was already reviewing each case to determine what role C. difficile played and to date had released the results of 12, determining a C. difficile infection was the cause of death in only three cases...

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Re: Ontario: C. difficile outbreak at St. Catherines hospital

Source: http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/A...aspx?e=3307458

Another C. difficile patient dies in St. Catharines hospital
By Grant LaFleche, Standard Staff
Posted 20 hours ago

The Niagara Health System is confident the Clostridium difficile outbreak at the St. Catharines General Hospital is nearing its end. But that will provide little comfort to the 35th family to have to bury an outbreak patient.

The NHS reported Wednesday another outbreak patient died Tuesday at the St. Catharines General Hospital. As with nearly every other patient with a C. difficile infection who died during the outbreak, the NHS said this person had other serious health problems and the role C. difficile played in the death has yet to be determined...

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Re: Ontario: C. difficile outbreak at St. Catherines hospital

Source: http://www.610cktb.com/news/local/Story.aspx?ID=1535640

Another C.difficile death at St. Catharines General
Tim Parent, 610 CKTB News
9/9/2011

Despite its best efforts to curb the C.difficile outbreak at St. Catharines General Hospital, the Niagara Health System is reporting another death at the site.

In a release, the NHS says the elderly patient suffered from a number of serious health injuries and had contracted C.difficile in the hospital.

As is the norm, the death has been reported to the Coroner?s office and the NHS will conduct a review of the case to determine what role C.difficile had in the death.

This brings the total number of deaths to 34 in the Niagara region...

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Re: Ontario: C. difficile outbreak at St. Catherines hospital

Source: http://www.610cktb.com/news/local/Story.aspx?ID=1532184

Minor changes in local C.difficile numbers
Siobhan Morris, 610 CKTB News
9/2/2011

There are 3 fewer C.difficile patients checked in at the St. Catharines General.

2 hospital-associated cases of the bug were sent home between Thursday & Friday, plus 1 community-acquired case.

11 C.difficile patients remain in hospital in St. Catharines. 64 cases have been associated with the outbreak that was declared May 28th, including 24 deaths...

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Re: Ontario: C. difficile outbreak at St. Catherines hospital

Source: http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/A...aspx?e=3279258

C. diff setback: 3 new cases
By Grant LaFleche
Posted 1 hour ago

After weeks of relative calm, the St. Catharines General Hospital suffered a major setback Tuesday, scuttling any hopes the C. difficile outbreak will end soon.

The Niagara Health System reported three new cases of hospital acquired C. difficile infections at the St. Catharines General, meaning it will be at least another 30 days before the NHS could be in a position to declare the outbreak over. The NHS also reported an elderly outbreak patient in Niagara Falls died on Sunday, bringing the outbreak death toll to 33...

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Re: Ontario: C. difficile outbreak at St. Catherines hospital

Source: http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/Art...aspx?e=3267037

Another C. diff related death
By QMI Agency
Updated 58 minutes ago

The Niagara Health System reports that a patient who tested positive for the C. difficile bacteria died Sunday morning at St. Catharines General Hospital...

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Re: Ontario: C. difficile outbreak at St. Catherines hospital

Source: http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/A...aspx?e=3263834

C. diff update at Niagara Health System sites
By Standard Staff
Posted 5 hours ago

St. Catharines General Hospital is the only Niagara Health System site reporting a change in its Clostridium difficile status as of Thursday at 10 a.m.

It's reporting nine hospital associated C. difficile cases that are currently in hospital, up one from Wednesday.

That bumps up the total number of cases there since the outbreak started by one, to 61...

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Re: Ontario: C. difficile outbreak at St. Catherines hospital

Source: http://www.610cktb.com/news/local/Story.aspx?ID=1473508

C.difficile patient at St. Catharines General dies
Outbreak death toll hits 31
Siobhan Morris, 610 CKTB News
8/3/2011

The death toll in Niagara's C.difficile outbreaks is up to 31.

A patient with the bug at the St. Catharines General Hospital passed away Wednesday morning. The NHS says the elderly patient had multiple health issues...

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Source: http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/A...aspx?e=3242824

C. diff death toll continues to climb
By Grant LaFleche Standard Staff
Updated 1 hour ago

The overall C. difficile case load at Niagara Health System hospitals may be stabilizing, but the death toll continues to climb.

The NHS reported Wednesday that another outbreak patient died at the St. Catharines General Hospital, bringing the total number of patients with hospital acquired C. difficile infections to 31. There have also been six people with community acquired cases of C. difficile that have died since the first Niagara outbreak was declared in St. Catharines on May 28.

Of the deaths of outbreak patients, 23 have been in St. Catharines, three in the Greater Niagara General Hospital in Niagara and five at the Welland Hospital.

The public health department and the local coroner's office are notified of every outbreak death. Also the NHS interim chief of staff Dr. Joanna Hope reviews each case to determine what role C. difficile played in the deaths.

Hope recently released the reviews of 12 of the cases and found in only three of them was C. difficile the cause of death. In three others it was a serious contributing factor and was not a factor in the remaining six...

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Re: Ontario: C. difficile outbreak at St. Catherines hospital

Source: http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/A...aspx?e=3238424


C. diff death toll climbs
By Standard Staff
Posted 1 hour ago

The count of C. difficile patients to die at Niagara Health System hospitals continues to climb.

The NHS announced a patient carrying the infection died early Saturday at St. Catharines General Hospital.

The latest death marks the 30th person with C. difficile to die since the outbreak was first declared May 28.

Six more people with community-acquired C. difficile infections have also died...

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Re: Ontario: C. difficile outbreak at St. Catherines hospital

Source: http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/A...aspx?e=3237213

C. diff robbed man of his new lease on life
By Grant LaFleche, Standard Staff
Posted 12 hours ago

Fernando Marques was supposed to be going home soon from the hospital. He was recovering well. He needed a pacemaker and more time to recover from a heart attack, but he was supposed to be going home.

But the 67-year-old retired factory worker won't be going home again. Before sunrise Friday at St. Catharines General Hospital, Marques became the 35th C. difficile patient to die since late May...

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Re: Ontario: C. difficile outbreak at St. Catherines hospital

Source: http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/A...aspx?e=3233337

Two more deaths attributed to superbug outbreak
By Grant LaFleche, Standard Staff
Posted 4 hours ago

Two more outbreak-patient deaths at St. Catharines General Hospital have been added to the Niagara Health System's tally.

The deaths ? one that happened Tuesday and the other in April ? brings the number of C. difficile outbreak patient deaths in Niagara to 28 since the first outbreak was declared in St. Catharines May 28. There are also outbreaks in Niagara Falls and Welland. Six more patients with community-acquired C. difficile infections have also died.

NHS interim CEO Sue Matthews extended her condolences to the families of the deceased patients during a press briefing Wednesday. She said the death in April was added to the NHS tally as a result of changes suggested to the hospital's counting system by a federal epidemiologist.

The epidemiologist, whose work in Niagara ends Friday, reviewed the NHS's outbreak data to look for trends. She found the first outbreak-related case was probably in late April in St. Catharines, but was treated as an isolated incident by hospital staff...

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Re: Ontario: C. difficile outbreak at St. Catherines hospital

Source: http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/loc...TorontoNewHome

Another Niagara C. difficile death; total count now at 26
The Canadian Press

Date: Sunday Jul. 24, 2011 2:31 PM ET

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. ? Another patient with Clostridium difficile has died in Ontario's Niagara region.

At least 26 deaths have now been linked to the infectious bacteria...

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Re: Ontario: C. difficile outbreak at St. Catherines hospital

Source: http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/Art...aspx?e=3219057

C. difficile deaths up to 24, NHS pledges 'new corporate culture'
Interim CEO says effort to block information was wrong
By BRETT CLARKSON Niagara Falls Review
Updated 2 hours ago

As another patient who had acquired C. difficile died Monday at the St. Catharines General Hospital, local health officials announced that a new infection control manager has been brought in from Hamilton to help the Niagara Health System manage the ongoing outbreaks.

Andrea Iacurti, a registered nurse with a certification in infection control based at St. Joseph's Healthcare in Hamilton, started with the NHS on a secondment Monday and will be reviewing NHS practices, cleaning schedules, and sharing strategies until the NHS hires a full-time infection control manager.

"Andrea started today and will report to Kim Stephens-Woods, our vice-president of patient services," said Dr. Sue Matthews, interim president and CEO of the NHS.

The death of the patient in St. Catharines early Monday raises the total number of deaths associated with the outbreak reported by the NHS to 24 since the first outbreak was declared on May 28.

"This patient had multiple health issues and passed away this morning," Matthews said.

The total number of cases reported by the NHS for the three outbreaks in St. Catharines, Welland and Niagara Falls was at 75 on Monday.

So far there has been 13 deaths at the St. Catharines General, six at Welland County General Hospital, and four at Greater Niagara General Hospital in Niagara Falls...

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Re: Ontario: C. difficile outbreak at St. Catherines hospital

Source: http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/Art...aspx?e=3214579

Infected hospital worker from St. Catharines General
Gaps found in infection control training
By Grant LaFleche QMI Agency
Updated 1 hour ago

ST. CATHARINES ? The bad news for the NHS did not stop with the MRSA outbreak at the Greater Niagara General Hospital that was declared Thursday. The NHS released a report issued by the Ministry of Labour, which was investigating a St. Catharines General Hospital care provider who contracted C. difficile. The report found hospital staff were not participating in safety education.

NHS interim CEO Sue Matthews said she could not say the exact job the care provider has at the General, citing confidentiality rules. However, she said the person became symptomatic at home on May 23, five days before the outbreak was declared at the St. Catharines hospital. The care provider has not been back to work since...