Pat's Note: It is a real relief to see the Hamilton Spectator back on
the case after a few days silence.
Brits will well understand the pressures they face - and that will
stay a cryptic remark. The pressure is really on for a cover-up there.
I hope they are looking for the strain involved. If it is 027 or a
close varient, the cover-up game in Britain is all over.
The children and the old will have to be protected by dealing with the
sick pigs, whatever the consequences elsewhere.
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/397170
463 C.DIFF DEATHS 22 HOSPITALS 2 YEARS
Figures from a fraction of Ontario hospitals hint at how enormous the
scope of lethal superbug outbreaks may turn out to be
July 04, 2008
Naomi Powell and Joan Walters
The Hamilton Spectator
(Jul 4, 2008)
At least 460 patients infected with the lethal superbug C. difficile
have died in Ontario hospitals over the past 30 months.
A tally by The Spectator shows that 463 infected patients died at just
22 of Ontario's 157 hospitals. The deaths occurred between January
2006 and May 2008.
New figures compiled by the newspaper show C. diff has assaulted more
hospitals and claimed more lives than previously known.
Health Minister David Caplan, who replaced George Smitherman last
month, has said the government has no plans to call an inquiry.
Families and opposition politicians have criticized the Liberals for
failing to take more aggressive action since a lethal strain of C.
diff arrived in Ontario in 2006.
Conservative Leader John Tory said yesterday the rising deaths
reconfirm the need for a probe into the full scope of C. diff.
Both Burlington's Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital and Barrie's Royal
Victoria Hospital have been hard hit by C. diff. In Burlington, 91
patients infected with the bacterium died, 62 of them directly from
the bug. In Barrie, 51 infected patients died, 24 directly as a result
of C. diff.
No one in the provincial government has ever tabulated the full number
of deaths from the bug.
Ontario's chief medical officer of health has so far been able to
confirm only 22 outbreaks in 19 hospitals from November 2006 to May
2008, but does not know the number who died in those incidents.
Experts such as infection specialist Dr. Michael Gardam have said The
Spectator's ongoing tally of C. diff cases is only the tip of the
iceberg.
Some hospitals have not declared outbreaks, but have re****ted
significant numbers of deaths.
Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital says 27 patients infected with C.
diff died from January 2007 to April 2008. C. diff was cited as a
factor in 17 of the deaths.
Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital in Windsor had 37 deaths from C. diff from
April 2006 to March 2008.
Data on C. diff prevalence in Ontario is scant because the superbug
has never been a re****table disease. C. diff has been blamed for 2,000
deaths in Quebec.
Hospitals use a variety of methods to collect information on C. diff
and to decide whether an official outbreak should be declared. That
all changes Sept. 30 when mandatory re****ting begins.
Dr. Michael Baker, the Ontario patient safety adviser in charge of
designing the re****ting system, says there will be a standard
definition for what constitutes an outbreak. But there is no intention
to require hospitals to re****t deaths.
Baker says that's because determining whether C. diff caused or
contributed to a death is a complicated procedure that relies on the
individual judgment of the expert looking at the case.
Hospitals like Jo Brant and Royal Victoria have called in outside
specialists to look back through charts to determine which cases were
directly linked to C. diff.
Baker, physician-in-chief of Toronto's University Hospital Network,
says he is "aware of the difficulty in making that judgment" and does
not believe requiring hospitals to re****t deaths would be productive.
Few of Ontario's hospitals have gone through a chart examination to
determine numbers of deaths. However, as public concern escalates,
many hospitals are voluntarily tabulating their fatalities.
The Spectator's previous C. diff tally showed 264 deaths at seven
hospitals since 2006.
npowell@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Regards
Pat Gardiner
Release the results of testing British pigs for MRSA and C.Diff now!
www.go-self-sufficient.com
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