Ohio hospitals united to stop bacteria’s spread

CLEVELAND (AP) — About 50 Ohio hospitals have joined a federally supported project to help stop the spread of a potentially deadly intestinal bacteria.

The Ohio Hospital Association and Ohio State University Medical Center are heading up the effort to standardize tracking of infections from clostridium difficile, or C. diff. Participants will test new methods to prevent the infections.

Ohio has one of the nation’s highest death rates from the bacteria. In 2005, it became the first state to require facilities to report infections from the bug, which releases toxins and can cause severe intestinal problems, sepsis and occasionally death.

People who have other illnesses, who use antibiotics for a prolonged period or who are elderly are more likely to get the bacteria, which is carried through feces, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is spread by contact and resistant to some antibiotics.

State health records showed about 15,000 cases of the bacteria in 2006, the only year the reporting system was used.