Clostridioides difficile Infection - Understatement of General Environmental Risk and Overstatement of Healthcare Environment Risk

Hospital Environment Hospital Environment
Peter Teska
Global Infection Prevention Expert
Feb 10, 2022

Recently funded peer review by Diversey discusses the Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) and the current state of the evidence of C. difficile transmission through potential exposure within a healthcare environment, the risk of colonization through other potential environmental exposures outside of healthcare facilities, the prevalence of environmental shedding from colonized and infected patients and whether colonized or infected patients are likely to transmit C. difficile to other patients.

 

This paper discusses the current state of the evidence of C. difficile transmission through potential exposure within a healthcare environment and the risk of colonization through other potential environmental exposures. The paper also discusses the prevalence of environmental shedding from colonized and infected patients, whether healthcare workers are likely to transmit C. difficile to patients, and whether colonized or infected patients are likely to transmit C. difficile to other patients.

 

Specifically to investigate the role of the healthcare environment, the paper reviews the impact improved cleaning and disinfection programs have on CDI rates and how better molecular epidemiological methods, such as whole genome sequencing (WGS), are providing new tools to better understand the pathways through which patient to patient transmission occurs in a healthcare facility.

Hospital

Read the full study here.

Title: Clostridioides difficile Infection - Understatement of General Environmental Risk and Overstatement of Healthcare Environment Risk

Authors: Peter Teska, MBA James Gauthier, MLT, Carol Calabrese, RN, CIC Carine Nkemngong PhD

Published on: October 22nd, 2021

Published in: InfectionControl.TIPS (https://infectioncontrol.tips/category/peer-reviewed/)