CLEVELAND, Ohio -- About 50 Ohio hospitals have joined a federally supported project to help stop the spread of a potentially deadly intestinal bacteria. The Ohio Hospital Association and Ohio State University Medical Center are heading up the effort to standardize tracking of infections from clostridium difficile, or C. diff. Participants will test new methods to prevent the infections.
Ohio has one of the nation's highest death rates from the bacteria. In 2005, it became the first state to require facilities to report infections from the bug, which releases toxins and can cause severe intestinal problems, sepsis and occasionally death. People who have other illnesses, who use antibiotics for a prolonged period or who are elderly are more likely to get the bacteria, which is carried through feces, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is spread by contact and resistant to some antibiotics.
State health records showed about 15,000 cases of the bacteria in 2006, the only year the reporting system was used. The project's first goal will be standardizing the way care facilities count infections so that they can share and compare infection rates, based on CDC standards. Hospitals that need updated infection-control procedures will incur unspecified costs, the association said. It has not said which facilities are included in the 18-month project. A spokesman for the Cleveland Clinic, the state's largest and most prominent medical system, says it will not participate because of costs and staffing demands.
MetroHealth Medical Center and University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland said they are among the participants. Their second task will be to test preventative practices. Experts urge vigilant hygiene among health care staff, cleaning of hospital surfaces, and early recognition and isolation of infected patients, said Dr. Julie Mangino, the project leader at the Ohio State University Medical Center. Mangino said she hopes nursing homes eventually will adopt a similar project.
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