A study carried out in Oxford University Hospital NHS Trust area, between 2008 and 2011, suggests that only about 1 in 5 of C difficile infections are being spread between patients in hospital. There is growing awareness that community-acquired C. diff is equally important and there are data indicating transmission to humans from animals. Studies suggest carriage rates for C. diff in the healthy adult community of up to 3% with higher colonisation rates in the over 65 age group. One of the researchers, Prof Tim Peto, told the BBC: “More and more deep cleaning ain’t going to do any good.” If this is the case then IFH suggests that good hygiene in the community could be a key to reducing infection rates by reducing spread in the healthy community. The study can be found at: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1216064
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