How can hospitals prevent the spread of C. difficile?
Unfortunately patients with diarrhoea, especially if severe or accompanied by incontinence, may unintentionally spread the infection to other patients, which may lead to outbreaks of C. difficile in hospitals. In addition, the ability of this bacterium to form spores enables it to survive for long periods in the environment (e.g. on floors and around toilets) and disseminate in the air e.g. during bed making. Staff should wear disposable gloves and aprons when caring for infected patients and affected patients may be segregated from others. Rigorous cleaning with warm water and detergent is probably the most effective means of removing spores from the contaminated environment, whilst staff should observe good hand washing practice. Alcohol gels should be used routinely by healthcare staff between treating patients, but only if their hands are not visibly soiled. When hands are visibly soiled, they must always be washed with soap and water first. In an outbreak situation, the Infection
