Partnership aims to halt bacterial infections in hospitals, clinics

Cdiff2-WEBCases of people stricken with Clostridium Difficile, a germ that causes fever, nausea and diarrhea, are on the rise in North Texas.

Because the illness most often occurs in people taking antibiotics, UNT Health Science Center and the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council Foundation have launched a project to help halt infections where they seem likely to occur – hospitals, local and rural primary care clinics, and long-term care facilities.

Health Science Center personnel will test for the bacteria by collecting environmental samples from about 30 hospitals and health care clinics in North Texas. Samples will be collected from bed rails, bathroom fixtures and other surfaces.

In addition to the environmental study, the DFW Hospital Council Foundation will offer participating hospitals and clinics an education and awareness program that demonstrates how medical workers and the public can avoid infections, such as best cleaning practices.

Incidents of Clostridium Difficile, also known as C. diff, have increased in North Texas from 6.99 of 1,000 acute patient discharges in 2010 to 9.51 of 1,000 in 2014, according to the Foundation. Elderly people and those with certain medical conditions are most likely to get infected.

“C-Diff can cause debilitating illness in infected patients,” said Dr. Kimberly Fulda, DrPH, Assistant Professor of Family Medicine. “This collaboration will help determine how commonly the bacteria are found in health care settings and improve awareness of how we can prevent it.”

The work is funded by a $236,000 grant from the DFW Hospital Council Foundation.

The environmental samples are being collected by the North Texas Primary Care Practice-Based Research Network (NorTex) within the UNTHSC Texas Prevention Institute. Dr. Joon Lee, PhD, Assistant Professor of Environmental and Occupation Health, and Dr. Jerry Simecka, PhD, Professor of Cell Biology and Immunology, are providing expertise and overseeing the collection and processing of the samples in this multidisciplinary project.

Recent News

Processed With Lensa With Pt12 Filter
  • Research
|Mar 28, 2024

Dr. Steven Romero receives American Physiological Society award for excellence in research

Dr. Steven Romero, associate professor of Physiology and Anatomy at the School of Biomedical Sciences at The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth, was named the 2024 Henry Pickering Bowditch Award Lecturer by the American Physiological Society. The lectureship is awarded to ...
Screenshot 2024 03 28 At 8.50.12 am
  • Our People
|Mar 28, 2024

Physical therapy student lands prestigious role in national organization

When Jonathan Hansen was an undergraduate intern at Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital, he encountered a man who had just suffered a stroke. The patient’s right side was completely paralyzed. Hansen, now a first-year student in The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Wort...
Jackie In Dc
  • Our People
|Mar 27, 2024

Personalized Health and Well-Being student repays generosity through advocacy

In 2019, The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth student Jacqueline Green said she felt hopeless. She became pregnant while experiencing hard financial times, and she didn’t have insurance. Compounding her stress was terrible grief. Her mother-in-law suddenly passed away,...
Image1 3
  • Our People
|Mar 26, 2024

The first licensed DO in Chile is a TCOM graduate and an unlikely osteopathic physician

If you’re looking for the unlikeliest of people to practice osteopathic medicine, osteopathy, or osteopathic manipulative treatment then look no further than Patrick Wedlake, DO. So, how did a self-described “hippie from California,” end up becoming the first licensed osteopathic physician in ...