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Source: http://www.thespec.com/BreakingNews/article/436065
Out of Control Part II: Ontario C. diff rate soars 50 per cent in two years
September 15, 2008
Naomi Powell
The Hamilton Spectator
Ontario's death rate from the virulent superbug C. difficile jumped 50 per cent over a two-year period, The Spectator has learned.
The rise in the death rate for Ontario patients infected in hospitals occurred amid a series of C. diff outbreaks that have catapulted the superbug into a major public issue.
Preliminary figures only now coming to light show Ontario's death rate shot to 6.3 per cent in 2007, the last year for which data is available. That's up from 4.2 per cent in 2005.
The increase shows a hypervirulent epidemic strain of C. diff is still on the rise in Ontario, experts say.
"I would love to think that this has peaked," said Dr. Andrew Simor, head of microbiology at Toronto's Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. "My concern is we are still on an upward slope."
The numbers mark the first time Ontario's fatality rate has surpassed that of Quebec, where the bug has killed at least 2,000 people since 2002.
The death rate in Quebec plunged dramatically in 2007, falling to 5.5 per cent from 14.9 per cent in 2005.
Experts attribute the decline to an aggressive infection control strategy that sent teams of professionals into hospitals to ensure proper cleaning, isolation and antibiotic management.
The drop in the Quebec rate is also behind a slight decline in the national death rate for C. diff. It dropped to 5.1 per cent in 2007 from 5.6 per cent in 2005.
The Ontario death data comes from the Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program, a partnership between the Public Health Agency of Canada and hospital epidemiologists. Numbers were submitted by nearly 50 hospitals, which have agreed to closely track C. diff to help the health system monitor the bug.
CNISP would not disclose the total number of deaths.
The 2007 data was sitting unanalyzed due to severe staff shortages in the Ottawa office of CNISP, the country's only nationwide tracking program for the superbug.
Dr. Mark Miller, co-chair of the C. diff program and a top epidemiologist from Quebec, says the 2008 data is also behind schedule for analysis.
"These (C. diff infections) are growing threats every month to the Canadian public, and I think they deserve to know what's going on," Miller said.
The Public Health Agency of Canada says it has set up an internal task force to resuscitate the program, and it has increased resources.
"It's ironic that this is happening at exactly the time when public safety initiatives and everyone acknowledges that this is a major health problem," said Simor, who is also co-chair of CNISP.
"This is the time we need to be devoting adequate attention and resources to this area."
Five new cases were announced at Honore-Mercier Hospital, in St-Hyacinthe, Que., last week.
And in Nanaimo, one of B.C.'s smaller hospitals has seen the number of C. diff infections climb to 57 in August from three in April.
npowell@thespec.com
905-526-4620
Out of Control Part II: Ontario C. diff rate soars 50 per cent in two years
September 15, 2008
Naomi Powell
The Hamilton Spectator
Ontario's death rate from the virulent superbug C. difficile jumped 50 per cent over a two-year period, The Spectator has learned.
The rise in the death rate for Ontario patients infected in hospitals occurred amid a series of C. diff outbreaks that have catapulted the superbug into a major public issue.
Preliminary figures only now coming to light show Ontario's death rate shot to 6.3 per cent in 2007, the last year for which data is available. That's up from 4.2 per cent in 2005.
The increase shows a hypervirulent epidemic strain of C. diff is still on the rise in Ontario, experts say.
"I would love to think that this has peaked," said Dr. Andrew Simor, head of microbiology at Toronto's Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. "My concern is we are still on an upward slope."
The numbers mark the first time Ontario's fatality rate has surpassed that of Quebec, where the bug has killed at least 2,000 people since 2002.
The death rate in Quebec plunged dramatically in 2007, falling to 5.5 per cent from 14.9 per cent in 2005.
Experts attribute the decline to an aggressive infection control strategy that sent teams of professionals into hospitals to ensure proper cleaning, isolation and antibiotic management.
The drop in the Quebec rate is also behind a slight decline in the national death rate for C. diff. It dropped to 5.1 per cent in 2007 from 5.6 per cent in 2005.
The Ontario death data comes from the Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program, a partnership between the Public Health Agency of Canada and hospital epidemiologists. Numbers were submitted by nearly 50 hospitals, which have agreed to closely track C. diff to help the health system monitor the bug.
CNISP would not disclose the total number of deaths.
The 2007 data was sitting unanalyzed due to severe staff shortages in the Ottawa office of CNISP, the country's only nationwide tracking program for the superbug.
Dr. Mark Miller, co-chair of the C. diff program and a top epidemiologist from Quebec, says the 2008 data is also behind schedule for analysis.
"These (C. diff infections) are growing threats every month to the Canadian public, and I think they deserve to know what's going on," Miller said.
The Public Health Agency of Canada says it has set up an internal task force to resuscitate the program, and it has increased resources.
"It's ironic that this is happening at exactly the time when public safety initiatives and everyone acknowledges that this is a major health problem," said Simor, who is also co-chair of CNISP.
"This is the time we need to be devoting adequate attention and resources to this area."
Five new cases were announced at Honore-Mercier Hospital, in St-Hyacinthe, Que., last week.
And in Nanaimo, one of B.C.'s smaller hospitals has seen the number of C. diff infections climb to 57 in August from three in April.
npowell@thespec.com
905-526-4620