Frequently Asked Questions

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To learn more about IPO, please click here or contact the Interprofessional Learning Specialists in Professional Practice.

If you have questions or concerns about COVID-19, please reach out to your manager, a member of the Occupational Health, Safety, and Wellness, and/or the Infection Prevention and Control team.

If you have questions or concerns about COVID-19, please reach out to your manager, a member of the Occupational Health, Safety, and Wellness, and/or the Infection Prevention and Control team.

If you have questions or concerns about COVID-19, please reach out to your manager, a member of the Occupational Health, Safety, and Wellness, and/or the Infection Prevention and Control team.

Healthy people are not usually susceptible to C. difficile. Seniors and people who have other illnesses or conditions being treated with antibiotics and those who take acid-suppressing stomach medications are at greater risk of an infection from C. difficile.

Healthy people are not usually susceptible to C. difficile. Seniors and people who have other illnesses or conditions being treated with antibiotics and those who take acid-suppressing stomach medications are at greater risk of an infection from C. difficile.

Healthy people are not usually susceptible to C. difficile. Seniors and people who have other illnesses or conditions being treated with antibiotics and those who take acid-suppressing stomach medications are at greater risk of an infection from C. difficile.

Clostridium difficile Infection (CDI) is often abbreviated to C. difficile or C. diff for short.

C. difficile is a germ that can be found, on occasion, in people’s bowels. It does not always cause problems or symptoms but in some cases can. In some people who are also taking antibiotics, the germ can grow because the antibiotics kill off many of the “good” and harmless germs that normally prevent the C. difficile from growing to high numbers.

C. difficile makes a toxin that damages the fragile lining of the bowel causing inflammation and loose watery bowel movements (diarrhea) and inflammation.

For more information and other related topics we recommend you visit:

• Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care - Patient Safety 
• Public Health Ontario - Regional Infection Control Networks (RICN)

It is not possible to prevent every case of C. difficile infection but each of us can protect ourselves and others by cleaning our hands often. Health-care providers in hospitals must clean their hands according the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s and hygiene guidelines. If you are receiving care in a hospital it is OK to ask anyone providing care to you if they have cleaned their hands. Cleaning your own hands after using the toilet, before you eat, after blowing your nose and any time they are dirty is a basic and important step to prevent the spread of all infections including C. difficile. Taking antibiotics only as needed and as prescribed by your doctor or nurse-practitioner (advanced practice nurse) and watching out for diarrhea are also important.

Yes, in severe cases of CDI, death can occur. This is uncommon and tends to occur in those people with other severe health problems. The vast majority of people recover from CDI.

If CDI is suspected, a stool (bowel movement) sample is tested in a laboratory for the toxin it makes. The test takes several hours to perform and most hospitals do this test in their own laboratory. Those hospitals that do not do this test themselves will send the stool sample to another laboratory to do the test. Sometimes a doctor will look directly into the bowel with a special scope (called a sigmoidoscope or colonoscope) to detect abnormal changes in the lining of the bowel that mean that C. difficile is causing the diarrhea. 

If a person has diarrhea due to CDI, a doctor will prescribe a type of antibiotic that kills the C. difficile germs. The two most commonly used antibiotics to treat CDI are metronidazole and vancomycin.

C. difficile can be spread from one person to another by contact, hand hygiene is critical to preventing its spread in a health-care setting.

If a patient is positive for C. difficile they are placed on Contact Precautions.

So what are Contact Precautions?

Contact Precautions aim to limit the spread of C. difficile to other patients and to health care providers. You may be placed in a private room or with other patients who are also carrying the bacteria. A sign may be placed on your door to remind others who enter your room about these special Contact Precautions. Those caring for you as well as visitors will be asked to clean their hands, gown and glove before entering your room. Everyone who enters and leaves your room must clean their hands well. The room and equipment in the room will be cleaned and disinfected regularly.

If you get the C. difficile germ you most often do not develop any symptoms of diarrhea at all. People, particularly those taking antibiotics, may get diarrhea. The diarrhea can range from mild to severe with many bowel movements in a day and accompanied by abdominal pain and cramps.

The C. difficile germ enters your body by ingestion of C. difficile spores. This is why cleaning your hands is so important to prevent picking up C. difficile and other germs. You can pick up the C. difficile germ anywhere, but the C. difficile germ is especially common in hospitals because hospitals have many people being given antibiotics. The chances of the C. difficile germ spreading from person to person is much higher in a hospital than it is in your own home, for example.

C. difficile is one of the most common infections found in hospitals and long-term care facilities, and has been a known cause of health-care associated diarrhea for about 30 years.

Healthy people are not usually susceptible to C. difficile. Seniors and people who have other illnesses or conditions being treated with antibiotics and those who take acid-suppressing stomach medications are at greater risk of an infection from C. difficile.

Risk factors for MRSA infections include invasive procedures, prior treatment with antibiotics, prolonged hospital stay, stay in an intensive care or burn unit, surgical wound infection and close proximity to someone who is carrying MRSA. 

Most people do not die if they are infected with MRSA. However in severe cases of MRSA bacteremia, death can occur. This is uncommon and tends to occur in those people with other severe health problems. The vast majority of people recover from MRSA, once their health is restored.

If a patient is carrying MRSA, generally no treatment is necessary, as the organism is not causing an illness and often will be cleared on its own when the person’s health is restored. If it is determined that the patient is infected (they have a blood infection, skin infection or wound infection etc.) then the patient will treated with the appropriate antibiotic as determined by a physician.

Swabs are performed when patients are admitted to the hospital and periodically for patients whom are at risk. The swabs are sent to the laboratory for analysis and if positive, the laboratory notifies infection prevention and control so that the patient can be placed on Contact Precautions.

Contact Precautions aim to limit the spread of MRSA to other patients and to health care providers. You may be placed in a private room or with other patients who are also carrying the bacteria. A sign may be placed on your door to remind others who enter your room about these special contact precautions. Those caring for you as well as visitors will be asked to clean their hands, gown and glove before entering your room. Everyone who enters and leaves your room must clean their hands well. The room and equipment in the room will be cleaned and disinfected regularly.

Because MRSA is spread from one person to another by contact, hand hygiene is critical to preventing its spread in a health-care setting. KGH actively conducts regular surveillance to find cases of MRSA infection and to identify carriers of MRSA. If a patient is positive for MRSA they are placed on Contact Precautions.

MRSA is spread from one person to another by contact, usually on the hands of caregivers. MRSA can be present on the health care provider’s hands either from touching contaminated material from infected persons or from touching articles contaminated by a person carrying MRSA, such as towels, sheets and wound dressings. MRSA can live on hands and objects in the environment for extended periods of time.

Risk factors for MRSA infections include invasive procedures, prior treatment with antibiotics, prolonged hospital stay, stay in an intensive care or burn unit, surgical wound infection and close proximity to someone who is carrying MRSA. 

A bacteremia is the presence of bacteria in the bloodstream and is referred to as a bloodstream infection.

Staphylococcus aureus is a germ that lives on the skin and mucous membranes of healthy people. Occasionally, Staphylococcus aureus is a  cause of human infection. When Staphylococcus aureus develops resistance to certain antibiotics, it is called Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA.

For more information and other related topics we recommend you visit:

• Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care - Patient Safety 
• Public Health Ontario - Regional Infection Control Networks (RICN)

Risk factors for MRSA infections include invasive procedures, prior treatment with antibiotics, prolonged hospital stay, stay in an intensive care or burn unit, surgical wound infection and close proximity to someone who is carrying MRSA. 

Risk factors for MRSA infections include invasive procedures, prior treatment with antibiotics, prolonged hospital stay, stay in an intensive care or burn unit, surgical wound infection and close proximity to someone who is carrying MRSA. 

Generally, people do not die if they infected with VRE. In severe cases of VRE bacteremias can lead to death. This is rare and tends to occur in those people with other severe health problems. The vast majority of people recover from VRE once their health is restored.

If a patient is simply carrying VRE, no treatment is necessary, as the organism will be cleared on its own when the person’s health is restored. If it is determined that the patient is infected (they have a blood infection, urine infection or wound infection etc.) then the patient will treated with the appropriate antibiotic as determined by a physician.

We do not routinely monitor or isolate persons who carry VRE. Patients with VRE infections are identified during their care and treated accordingly.

All infection prevention and control precautions or Routine Practices aim to limit the spread of any bacteria to other patients and to health care providers.  

Here at KGH we do not routinely place patients on precautions or isolate those who carry or are infected with VRE. Routine Practices are used because VRE, like other germs can be spread from one person to another by contact; hand hygiene is critical to preventing the spread of all infections in a healthcare setting. Health care providers are routinely required to clean their hands before, during and after patient contact. We also clean and disinfect all patient rooms and equipment to help stop the spread of VRE and other germs. 

VRE is spread from one person to another by contact, usually on the hands of health care providers (HCP). VRE can be present on the health care provider’s hands either from touching contaminated material excreted by the infected person or from touching articles contaminated by the skin of a person with VRE, such as towels, sheets and wound dressings. VRE can live on hands and objects in the environment.

Risk factors for VRE acquisition include severe underlying illness, presence of invasive devices, prior colonization with VRE, antibiotic use and longer hospital stay.

Enterococci are bacteria that are normally present in the human intestines and are often found in the environment. These bacteria can sometimes cause infections. Vancomycin is an antibiotic that is often used to treat infections caused by enterococci. In some instances, enterococci have become resistant to this drug and thus are called Vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE).

A bacteremia is the presence of bacteria in the bloodstream and is referred to as a bloodstream infection.

For more information and other related topics we recommend you visit:

• Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care - Patient Safety 
• Public Health Ontario - Regional Infection Control Networks (RICN)

Risk factors for VRE acquisition include severe underlying illness, presence of invasive devices, prior colonization with VRE, antibiotic use and longer hospital stay.