Seventh patient with superbug dies in Hamilton. Ontario needs public reporting.

Another patient with C. Difficile has died at St. Joseph's Hospital in Hamilton. That makes seven since October. One of those deaths has been directly attributed to the disease, five others are under investigation, and, in one death, C. Difficile has been ruled out as the cause of death.

What makes this situation unusual is that there is a public report of the deaths. The Hamilton Spectator has followed this issue for some time and continues to report on it. It's also interesting that the hospital is determining what killed these patients. Government has claimed that it is hard to do this.

While the government met OCHU's demand to publicly report superbug infections at hosptials, it still refuses to require the hospitals to report patients who have died due to (or even with) superbug infections -- MRSA, C. Difficle, VRE.

Many more patients are dying from these superbugs in hospitals all over the province. But without public reporting, the public has no way of knowing. And, as a result, there is much less pressure to deal with the problem.

dallan@cupe.ca

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