C. difficile outbreak over at GBGH
April 6, 2021 – The C. difficile outbreak on an inpatient unit at Georgian Bay General Hospital (GBGH) has been declared over, in consultation with the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU). The outbreak was initially declared following three hospital-acquired cases on an inpatient unit within seven days. The outbreak has ended as no new cases since the initial ones were identified on March 9.
“I would like to recognize and thank the hospital team for taking quick and effective action in response to the C. difficile outbreak,” says Angie Saini, vice president, Clinical Services and chief nursing executive. “Through the diligence and vigilance of our teams and enhanced infection prevention and control measures we were able to manage and end the outbreak as soon as possible.”
C. difficile outbreaks are declared based on an increase in cases from each hospital’s regular case counts. Regular cases can differ among organizations and thus, the threshold can differ between hospitals. GBGH consistently has a very low case count and has not experienced a C. difficile outbreak in more than six years.
The general requirement for a C. difficile outbreak to be declared over is decided in collaboration with the health unit and determined after a return to our hospital’s baseline for hospital acquired cases for one month. Therefore, C. difficile outbreaks usually take at least a month or more to be declared over.
Contact:
Jennifer Moore
Communications Officer, GBGH
705-526-1300 ext 5177