Letter
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Katrina Browne, Brett G. Mitchell
Summary: Infection transmission in healthcare is a complex issue that involves the interplay between pathogens, hosts, and the environment. Environmental cleaning is one strategy to prevent transmission, and a multimodal intervention is key to reducing the risk of healthcare-associated infections through the environment.
ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE AND INFECTION CONTROL
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Malin Inghammar, Henrik Svanstrom, Marianne Voldstedlund, Mads Melbye, Anders Hviid, Kare Molbak, Bjorn Pasternak
Summary: In a nationwide study among adults in Denmark, it was found that the use of PPIs is associated with a moderately increased risk of community-associated Clostridium difficile infection. The elevated risk remained up to 1 year after the end of PPI treatment.
CLINICAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2021)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Alexandra Peters, Pierre Parneix, Martin Kiernan, Juliette A. Severin, Tracey Gauci, Didier Pittet
Summary: Healthcare environmental hygiene (HEH) is increasingly important for patient safety and the prevention of healthcare-associated infections. The 2022 Healthcare Cleaning Forum focused on main areas of interest and highlighted the need for collaboration between academia and the private sector. The conference also emphasized the involvement of governmental bodies and explored new innovations and the need for sustainability in HEH.
ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE AND INFECTION CONTROL
(2023)
Article
Pediatrics
Ryan M. Hanson, Amy J. Wagner
Summary: Severe, complicated Clostridium difficile colitis is rare in pediatric patients and little is known about its medical and surgical management in this population. A case report of a 15-year-old female patient with severe, complicated C difficile colitis successfully treated with diverting loop ileostomy and colonic lavage is presented. This approach, instead of subtotal colectomy and end ileostomy, should be considered as an alternative for pediatric patients with severe, complicated C difficile colitis.
Review
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Supun Chathuranga Nabadawa Hewage, Loan Thi Thanh Cao, Rachael M. Jones, Angela M. Fraser
Summary: This systematic literature review identified factors associated with the disinfection practices of environmental service workers (ESWs) in healthcare settings, highlighting the importance of education/training, knowledge, and organizational commitment in sustaining improvements in disinfection outcomes. Continuous education/training is essential for behavior change, and future studies should focus on larger sample sizes and randomized controlled designs to determine the true effect.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INFECTION CONTROL
(2021)
Article
Immunology
Aaron C. Miller, Daniel K. Sewell, Alberto M. Segre, Sriram Pemmaraju, Philip M. Polgreen
Summary: A case-control study compared hospitalized patients with and without Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) to determine the association between healthcare exposures prior to hospitalization and risk for hospital-onset CDI, with results showing that patients with CDI had more frequent prior healthcare exposures. The likelihood of CDI during hospitalization was greater with healthcare visits, antibiotic use, and family exposures, but the association decreased with time between exposure and hospitalization. These findings were consistent across different CDI case definitions.
JOURNAL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2021)
Review
Medicine, General & Internal
Ibrahim A. Al-Zahrani
Summary: Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) infection is a global threat to many healthcare settings. Excessive use of antimicrobials, lack of optimal antibiotic policies, and suboptimal infection control practices have fueled the development of this health issue. Prudent use of antimicrobials and simple infection control measures can significantly reduce infection rates.
SAUDI MEDICAL JOURNAL
(2023)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Andrea Piccioni, Federico Rosa, Federica Manca, Giulia Pignataro, Christian Zanza, Gabriele Savioli, Marcello Covino, Veronica Ojetti, Antonio Gasbarrini, Francesco Franceschi, Marcello Candelli
Summary: The composition of the human microbiome plays a crucial role in health, and alterations in the microbiota can lead to Clostridium difficile infection.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
Review
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Philip C. Carling, Michael F. Parry, Russell Olmstead
Summary: This review discusses new insights into the epidemiology of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI). It reveals the prevalence of CD spore contamination in the patient-zone and the role of asymptomatically colonized patients in spreading resilient spores to their surroundings. The review also highlights the potential of using new generation sporicidal agents without damaging surfaces, equipment, or the environment, in combination with thorough cleaning and disinfection programs, to mitigate hospital-onset CDI and improve patient safety.
ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE AND INFECTION CONTROL
(2023)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Peng An Khun, Long Duc Phi, Huong Thi Thu Bui, Nguyen Thi Bui, Quyen Thi Huyen Vu, Luong Duy Trinh, Deirdre A. Collins, Thomas Riley
Summary: This study investigated the prevalence, molecular type, and antimicrobial susceptibility of Clostridioides difficile in the environment in Vietnam. It found that the overall contamination rate of C. difficile was 24.5%, with the highest prevalence in pig farm and hospital soils. C. difficile was also found in pig feces and potato surfaces. These findings highlight the importance of environmental sources in the epidemiology of C. difficile infection in Vietnam.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Meng Wang, Zifeng Deng, Yanmei Li, Yi Ma, Jufang Wang
Summary: A novel lytic protein Cw1-CWB2 with high binding specificity and strong lytic activity has been designed in this study for combating C. difficile.
APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ashleigh S. Paparella, Briana L. Aboulache, Rajesh K. Harijan, Kathryn S. Potts, Peter C. Tyler, Vern L. Schramm
Summary: Clostridium difficile produces toxins TcdA and TcdB causing diarrhea by affecting host cell functions using UDP-glucose, leading to disease onset. Researchers identified potential therapeutic approach using transition state analogue iminosugars.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Dong Youn Kim, Yu-Mi Lee, Ki-Ho Park, Young Jin Kim, Kyung-Chung Kang, Chang Kyun Lee, Mi Suk Lee
Summary: The study revealed that the incidence of hospital-acquired CDI among patients who underwent orthopedic surgery was 0.7%, with factors such as age, preoperative hospital stay, operating time, and antibiotic use associated with CDI. The impact of CDI on excess length of stay was more significant in patients over 65 years old and those with comorbidities.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INFECTION CONTROL
(2022)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
McKinley Linda, Baubie Kelsey, Bartel Rosie, Flower Mark, Keating A. Julie, Safdar Nasia
Summary: This study examined patient perspectives on the environmental cleaning work systems in healthcare. Patients generally expected a clean hospital room, but some felt in the way during cleaning, possibly resulting in rushed cleaning procedures. Patients expressed confidence in the skilled work of Environmental Management Service staff, and emphasized the importance of soft skills.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INFECTION CONTROL
(2022)
Article
Surgery
Emmanuel Nwachuku, Yizhi Shan, Prabhu Senthil-Kumar, Todd Braun, Ryan Shadis, Orlando Kirton, Thai Q. Vu
Summary: This case series reports 9 surgical patients with CDI who did not experience diarrhea prior to diagnosis. While all patients tested positive for C. difficile toxin, some presented with minimal bowel movements or constipation instead. These findings highlight the importance of considering CDI as a potential diagnosis in patients with atypical gastrointestinal symptoms even in the absence of diarrhea.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SURGERY
(2021)
Article
Surgery
James J. Jung, Peter Juni, Gerald Lebovic, Teodor Grantcharov
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
John K. Marshall, Louis Bessette, Neil H. Shear, Gerald Lebovic, Jennifer Glass, Brad Millson, Tania Gaetano, Sandra Gazel, Martin G. Latourte, Marie-Claude Laliberte, J. Carter Thorne
CLINICAL THERAPEUTICS
(2018)
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
John K. Marshall, Louis Bessette, Carter Thorne, Neil H. Shear, Gerald Lebovic, Sebastien K. Gerega, Brad Millson, Driss Oraichi, Tania Gaetano, Sandra Gazel, Martin G. Latour, Marie-Claude Laliberte
CLINICAL THERAPEUTICS
(2018)
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Catherine H. Yu, Carolyn Gall Casey, Calvin Ke, Gerald Lebovic, Sharon E. Straus
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF DIABETES
(2019)
Article
Oncology
E. A. Underwood, K. J. Jerzak, G. Lebovic, P. A. Rochon, C. Elser, K. I. Pritchard, M. C. Tierney
SUPPORTIVE CARE IN CANCER
(2019)
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Inna Y. Gong, Nigel S. Tan, Sammy H. Ali, Gerald Lebovic, Muhammad Mamdani, Shaun G. Goodman, Dennis T. Ko, Andreas Laupacis, Andrew T. Yan
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF CARDIOLOGY
(2019)
Article
Urology & Nephrology
Sean M. Bagshaw, Neill K. J. Adhikari, Karen E. A. Burns, Jan O. Friedrich, Josee Bouchard, Francois Lamontagne, Lauralyn A. McIntrye, Jean-Francois Cailhier, Peter Dodek, Henry T. Stelfox, Margaret Herridge, Stephen Lapinsky, John Muscedere, James Barton, Donald Griesdale, Mark Soth, Althea Ambosta, Gerald Lebovic, Ron Wald, R. T. Noel Gibney, Nadia Baig, Nicole Marinoff, Adic Perez, Karen Burns, Jan Friedrich, Julia Lee, Yoon Lee, Kurtis Salway, Gyan Sandhu, Oda Smith, Melissa Wang, Anatolie Duca, Patrick Berube, Helene Fournier, Lauralyn McIntrye, Irene Watpool, Rebecca Porteus, Brigette Gomes, Fatna Benettaib, Betty Jean Ashley, Victoria Alcuaz, Stacey Ruddell, Andrea Matte, Sumesh Shah, Miranda Hunt, Ilinca Georgescu, Dorota Polewicz, Denise Foster, Kristine Wachmann
CLINICAL JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF NEPHROLOGY
(2019)
Article
Respiratory System
Samir Gupta, Courtney Price, Gina Agarwal, David Chan, Sanjeev Goel, Louis-Philippe Boulet, Alan G. Kaplan, Gerald Lebovic, Muhammad Mamdani, Sharon E. Straus
EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY JOURNAL
(2019)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Courtney Price, Gina Agarwal, David Chan, Sanjeev Goel, Alan G. Kaplan, Louis-Philippe Boulet, Muhammad M. Mamdani, Sharon E. Straus, Gerald Lebovic, Samir Gupta
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Karen M. Eny, Jonathon L. Maguire, David W. H. Dai, Gerald Lebovic, Khosrow Adeli, Jill K. Hamilton, Anthony J. Hanley, Muhammad Mamdani, Brian W. McCrindle, Mark S. Tremblay, Patricia C. Parkin, Catherine S. Birken, Ronald Cohn, Eddy Lau, Andreas Laupacis, Michael Salter, Peter Szatmari, Shannon Weir, Laura N. Anderson, Cornelia M. Borkhoff, Charles Keown-Stoneman, Christine Kowal, Dalah Mason, Murtala Abdurrahman, Barbara Anderson, Kelly Anderson, Gordon Arbess, Jillian Baker, Tony Barozzino, Sylvie Bergeron, Dimple Bhagat, Nicholas Blanchette, Gary Bloch, Joey Bonifacio, Ashna Bowry, Anne Brown, Jennifer Bugera, Caroline Calpin, Douglas Campbell, Sohail Cheema, Elaine Cheng, Brian Chisamore, Evelyn Constantin, Ellen Culbert, Karoon Danayan, Paul Das, Mary Beth Derocher, Anh Do, Michael Dorey, Kathleen Doukas, Anne Egger, Allison Farber, Amy Freedman, Sloane Freeman, Sharon Gazeley, Charlie Guiang, Dan Ha, Curtis Handford, Laura Hanson, Leah Harrington, Hailey Hatch, Teresa Hughes, Sheila Jacobson, Lukasz Jagiello, Gwen Jansz, Mona Jasuja, Paul Kadar, Tara Kiran, Holly Knowles, Bruce Kwok, Sheila Lakhoo, Margarita Lam-Antoniades, Eddy Lau, Denis Leduc, Fok-Han Leung, Alan Li, Patricia Li, Jennifer Loo, Joanne Louis, Sarah Mahmoud, Jessica Malach, Roy Male, Vashti Mascoll, Aleks Meret, Elise Mok, Rosemary Moodie, Julia Morinis, Maya Nader, Katherine Nash, Sharon Naymark, James Owen, Jane Parry, Michael Peer, Kifi Pena, Marty Perlmutar, Navindra Persaud, Andrew Pinto, Michelle Porepa, Vikky Qi, Nasreen Ramji, Noor Ramji, Jesleen Rana, Danyaal Raza, Alana Rosenthal, Katherine Rouleau, Janet Saunderson, Rahul Saxena, Vanna Schiralli, Michael Sgro, Hafiz Shuja, Susan Shepherd, Barbara Smiltnieks, Cinntha Srikanthan, Carolyn Taylor, Stephen Treherne, Suzanne Turner, Fatima Uddin, Meta van den Heuvel, Joanne Vaughan, Thea Weisdorf, Sheila Wijayasinghe, Peter Wong, Anne Wormsbecker, John Yaremko, Ethel Ying, Elizabeth Young, Michael Zajdman, Farnaz Bazeghi, Vincent Bou-Chard, Marivic Bustos, Charmaine Camacho, Dharma Dalwadi, Christine Koroshegyi, Tarandeep Malhi, Sharon Thadani, Julia Thompson, Laurie Thompson, Mary Aglipay, Imaan Bayoumi, Sarah Carsley, Katherine Cost, Karen Eny, Theresa Kim, Laura Kinlin, Jessica Omand, Shelley Vanderhout, Leigh Vanderloo, Christopher Allen, Bryan Boodhoo, Olivia Chan, Judith Hall, Peter Juni, Karen Pope, Kevin Thorpe, Rita Kandel, Michelle Rodrigues, Hilde Vandenberghe
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OBESITY
(2019)
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Calvin Ke, Shamdeo Persaud, Kavita Singh, Brian Ostrow, Gerald Lebovic, Cesar Hincapie, Julia Lowe
BMJ OPEN DIABETES RESEARCH & CARE
(2020)
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Anuj Bhatia, Jamal Kara, Tahir Janmohamed, Atul Prabhu, Gerald Lebovic, Joel Katz, Hance Clarke
Summary: This study examined the real-world engagement of patients with chronic pain in urban and rural settings in Ontario, Canada using the Manage My Pain app alongside standard care. Results showed that patients who used the app had lower anxiety and decreased pain catastrophizing compared to those who did not engage with the app. Further research is needed to understand factors that impact continued engagement and clinical outcomes in patients with chronic pain.
JMIR MHEALTH AND UHEALTH
(2021)
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Mahbod Rahimi, Paul Dorian, Sheldon Cheskes, Gerald Lebovic, Steve Lin
Summary: This study analyzed the effects of amiodarone and lidocaine on the return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) in relation to the time of treatment for patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. The probability of ROSC decreased as time to drug administration increased, and the effect of amiodarone to restore ROSC declined with longer times to drug administration.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION
(2022)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Duminda N. Wijeysundera, Shabbir M. H. Alibhai, Karim S. Ladha, Martine T. E. Puts, Tyler R. Chesney, Julian F. Daza, Sahar Ehtesham, Emily Hladkowicz, Gerald Lebovic, C. David Mazer, Janet M. van Vlymen, Alice C. Wei, Daniel I. McIsaac
Summary: The FIT After Surgery study aims to investigate and characterize the incidence, trajectories, risk factors, and impact of new significant disability after non-cardiac surgery in older adults. This will be assessed using the WHO Disability Assessment Scale and participants' level of care needs at multiple time points up to 1 year post-surgery. The study is expected to provide valuable insights into postoperative recovery outcomes that are more patient-centered and comprehensive.
Review
Health Care Sciences & Services
Julian F. Daza, Tyler R. Chesney, Shabbir M. H. Alibhai, Erin D. Kennedy, Gerald Lebovic, David Lightfoot, Arnaud Mbadjeu R. Hondjeu, Juan F. Morales, Bianca Pivetta, Rachel Jolley, Elizabeth Racz, Luke Wilmshurst, Duminda N. Wijeysundera
Summary: The objective of this scoping review is to map the evidence on clinical tools to assess functional capacity prior to elective non-cardiac surgery. Functional capacity is a strong prognostic indicator before surgery, which can be used to identify patients at elevated risk of postoperative complications, yet, there is no consensus on which clinical tools should be used to assess functional capacity in patients prior to non-cardiac surgery.
JBI EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS
(2023)