Environmental and Health Care Personnel Sampling and Unobserved <i>Clostridium difficile</i> Transmission in ICU
These results challenge the idea that nosocomial transmission is not a primary source of acquisition and underscore the importance of hand hygiene and environmental decontamination. This study reinforces the need to include environmental surfaces and HCP hands in future work characterizing the burden of nosocomial transmission. Understanding the transmission pathways of C difficile within health care facilities, particularly the roles of environmental surfaces and HCP hands, is critical to improving infection control measures.
Authors
- L. Clifford McDonald (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3044-5572)
- Molly Leecaster
- William J. Brazelton (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0933-0148)
- Judith Noble-Wang
- Windy Tanner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7487-4136)
- Rachel B. Slayton (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4699-8040)
- John A. Jernigan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8163-925X)
- Michael Rubin
- Candace Haroldsen
- Damon Toth (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7393-4814)
- Tierney O’Sullivan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7387-767X)
- Brian Orleans (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9312-0674)
- Lindsay T. Keegan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8526-3007)
- Matthew H. Samore (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4862-9196)
- Karim Khader
Institutions
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US)
- University of Utah (US)
- Huntsman Cancer Institute (US)
- Yale University (US)
- VA Salt Lake City Healthcare System (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- JAMA Network Open
- Published
- 2025-04-04
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.2787
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Clostridium difficile and Clostridium perfringens research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 4.19
Funders
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases