Medcare Forum » Hospitals http://medcareforum.com Health Care Information, News and Resources Sat, 14 Jan 2012 03:32:17 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 Hospital Bacteria http://medcareforum.com/archives/2008/11/12/740 http://medcareforum.com/archives/2008/11/12/740#comments Thu, 13 Nov 2008 05:48:09 +0000 Kathleen Milazzo http://medcareforum.com/archives/2008/11/12/740       A nasty bacteria call Clostridium difficile or C. diff. is making more hospital patients sick than formally thought. 1 in 100 get it and it leads to severe diarrhea, pain, and nausea. It can also cause failure of the colon and even death.  The problem seems to be in all hospitals evenly acrosse the board and the answer or at least part of the answer is better hand washing for hospital staff.

A little over 7,000 patients will get the bacteria and about 300 of them will die from complications related.

The problem with this bacteria is that it can live on hard surfaces for months and the only thing that can kill them is bleach. Hospitals only use bleach when an infection has already broken out.

Most hospitals already have stations in every room of an antibacterial hand washing solution, but this particular bacteria is immune to it. Washing hands with soap and water doesn’t kill them either but what it does is help to rinse the spores off of the hands and down the drains.

 

 

 

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