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Survey: Further facility-based innovations needed to reduce spread of C. difficile
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The addition of new interventions for Clostridium difficile infections has not resulted in substantial improvements in the prevention of the illness at most health care facilities, according to a recent report.
The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) released the results of a 26-question Pace of Progress survey of 1,087 members conducted in January. Questions addressed responders’ use of new interventions for C. difficile infection, the frequency with which patients have presented with the illness, and practices related to staff, patient follow-up and facility policy.
Seventy percent of respondents indicated they had adopted new interventions for their practices since March 2010, while just 42% noted a decline in facility-associated C. difficile infection. Another 43% reported no decrease. Responses also indicated that only 21% of facilities had recently hired additional preventionists, despite a rise in infection rates.
“We are encouraged that many institutions have adopted stronger measures to prevent [C. difficile], but as our survey indicates, more needs to be done to reduce the spread of this infection,” Jennie Mayfield, BSN, MPH, CIC, president-elect of APIC, said in a press release. “We are concerned that staffing levels are not adequate to address the scope of the problem.”
Other survey findings included:
- Ninety-two percent of respondents reported increasing environmental cleaning and decontamination practices for C. difficile patients since 2010. Most (64%) indicated observation was used to monitor cleaning effectiveness instead of more accurate technology, and 14% noted that room cleaning for C. difficile cases was unmonitored.
- Isolation practices for patients with C. difficile varied. Nearly half (42%) reported keeping patients isolated for the entire length of stay, while 25% isolated patients until treatment initiation, along with the absence of diarrhea for 48 hours.
- The number of facilities with antimicrobial stewardship programs increased from 52% in 2010 to 60%.
- Most responders who did not report adopting more aggressive prevention methods indicated they already were incorporating best practices (65%). Thirty-seven percent reported that C. difficile was not a “high-priority problem” at their facility, and 18% noted a decline in infection rates with current practices.