Ohio Hospitals Must Report Deadly Illness
Posted by Kim on December 29th, 2005 / Print This Post
Another FYI:
CLEVELAND — The Ohio Department of Health has ordered hospitals and long-term care centers statewide to begin reporting cases of a deadly bacterial illness in weekly reports to their local health departments.Clostridium difficile, also known as C-diff, is a bacterium that resides in the colon and can cause diarrhea and colitis. U.S. public health officials warned this month that a more virulent strain has grown resistant to antibiotics. The germ was blamed last year for 100 deaths over 18 months at a hospital in Quebec, Canada.
The facilities will be required to submit weekly reports from Jan. 1 to June 30. The reports will be forwarded to the state.
The bacterium has caused 21 deaths in the Cleveland area, most in 2005, The Plain Dealer reported earlier this month. The newspaper reported that state health officials have been reluctant to require reporting on the spread of C-diff, despite urging from federal authorities.