abstract: Study: Vast Majority of C difficile Infections Occur in Medical Settings, April 4, 2012, Voelker 307 (13): 1356 — JAMA

Study: Vast Majority of C difficile Infections Occur in Medical Settings, April 4, 2012

Most Clostridium difficile infections, often assumed to be community acquired, actually occur in medical settings, according to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

In fact, 94% of the potentially fatal infections are in people who recently received care in facilities such as hospitals, nursing homes, physicians' offices, and outpatient surgical centers. To stem the rising tide of C difficile infections, CDC officials say hospitals and other health care settings need greater adherence to infection control practices and improved communication to notify each other whenever they transfer an infected patient. 

“These infections are now a patient safety concern everywhere medical care is given,” said Clifford McDonald, MD, a CDC medical epidemiologist and lead author of the study in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (http://tinyurl.com/7dh83hh). “About 25% of C difficile infections first show symptoms among patients in hospitals; 75% first show symptoms among patients in nursing …"

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Canadian Women's Health Network - survey re: care in nursing homes/long-term care - cancer patients - take survey!

Is someone close to you in a nursing home or long-term care facility? Please consider filling out this survey!

From the National Network on Environments and Women’s Health, York University
We are a group of researchers with the national working group, Women and Health Protection, based at York University. We have a longstanding interest in the uses of prescription medications and in this project want to learn about the experiences of people who have family members* in long-term care facilities who may be taking prescription drugs. Family members often have the most direct knowledge about these issues and have much to contribute to a discussion about medication use. We hope to find out more about these experiences from responses to this survey, and plan to use this (anonymously-provided) information to develop a series of recommendations that may make things better for seniors in care.
If you are involved with the care of someone in a nursing home or long term care facility, we invite you to fill out the survey found at the following link:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/J93382Q
The survey will take about 15-20 minutes to complete. All information you provide will be anonymous; no one is required to provide a name. More information about our research is provided in the introduction to the survey The closing date for completing this survey is Monday, 21 March 2011.
We thank you in advance for helping us out. And please pass this invitation to others you know who may have a family member* in long term care so we can hear from as diverse a group as possible. We have also attached a pdf of the survey if individuals would prefer to fill it in manually and return to us by mail.
Anne Rochon Ford, Co-Director
National Network on Environments and Women’s Health