Dogs trained to detect potentially deadly superbug at B.C. hospitals
The potentially deadly bacterium is found in feces. People can become infected when they touch contaminated surfaces and then their mouth. C. difficile can spread if a sick person has not washed their hands or when health-care workers don’t regularly change their gloves.
She said about 10 per cent of dogs from a large pool of candidates typically end up on the short list to be considered for up to eight months of training but only a couple of pooches may make the final cut for a job that requires the right temperament. She said there’s no quicker way to find C. difficile on equipment or elsewhere in a hospital environment than letting the four-legged detectives do their work, and it would otherwise take days to swab for the bacterium and grow it in a lab.The former medic in the Canadian Armed Forces had C. difficile herself in 2013 following a leg infection for which she took antibiotics. She got sepsis and still has health issues from theso-called superbug.
Their findings showed 56 per cent of C. difficile cases were detected in the hospital’s hallways, suggesting such areas should be decluttered so they can be better cleaned. Dr. Marthe Charles, who heads the division of medical microbiology and infection prevention and control at Vancouver Coastal, said just seeing the dogs on wards helps staff and patients remember to wash their hands.
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