APIC says more needs to be done to halt C. difficile
Activities to stop the spread of the intestinal superbug Clostridium difficile are on the rise, but they are not yielding large improvements, according to a nationwide survey of infection preventionists released last month by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). The group's new Pace of Progress survey found that 70 percent of infection preventionists have adopted additional interventions in their health care facilities to address C. difficile infection (CDI) since March 2010, but only 42 percent have seen a decline in their health care facility-associated CDI rates during that time. A total of 1,087 APIC members completed the survey, which was conducted by APIC in January 2013. "We are encouraged that many institutions have adopted stronger measures to prevent CDI, but as our survey indicates, more needs to be done to reduce the spread of this infection," says Jennie Mayfield, BSN, MPH, CIC, APIC president-elect and clinical epidemiologist at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis.
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