Asymptomatic C. difficile (C. diff) colonization is present at hospital admission in nearly one of 10 patients, according to a study published in the May issue of the American Journal of Infection Control. Initiating screening based on three independent risk factors for colonization can be used as the basis for a targeted surveillance program to identify asymptomatic patients with colonization at admission, thereby potentially cutting in-hospital transmission. “While more research needs to be conducted on the transmission of C. difficile infection from colonized patients, this study may help institutions with persistently high rates of transmission develop an expanded strategy for targeted C. difficile surveillance,” said Patti Grant, RN, president of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, in a statement. Due to the steady climb (2004 to 2008) in health care-associated C. diff at Mayo Clinic-affiliated hospitals (in spite of the use of private rooms and contact precautions for patients with suspected or confirmed C. diff infection), researchers assessed data from 320 consenting adults, without symptoms of C. diff infection, admitted to a tertiary care hospital on 20 predetermined study days (March 1 through April 30, 2009). The first stool sample after admission was tested for toxigenic C. […]