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i 0 stouffville suntribune saturday march 10 2007 unledvfcy of york region aurora east gwitjimbury gcorgina king maifcham newmarket richmond hill vaughan whitchurchstoaffville united way of york region raises record 855 million everyday people helping everyday people every day h david barnes cabinet chair vice president advertising sponsorship communication amex canada inc court d carruthers president acklandsgrainger inc steven dawson director of sales indirect sales group north america establishment services division amex canada inc micheal deangelis city manager city of vaughan michael j donoghue president ceo allstate canada group of companies deborah egan executive director chats mark foerster group claims vice president munich reinsurance company canada life branch bill hogarth director of education york region district school board michael hortie president motorola canada limited vito mabrucco managing director idc canada anne sigouin director of marketing ethicon products ethicon endosurgery johnson johnson medical products tom whyte rahul k bhardwaj chief executive officer united way of york region shari lovelock director of development united way of york region ivia for m mp wm stw basa sm 1 i fcjvfigkt 3 r wi nbbk j 9ff 11 dm r lllili bu- fea wmsm mifj david ho major individual giving committee chair principal torce financial group garth issett debora kelly vice president manufacturing development and operations ibm canada ltd editorinchief york region media group hugo lam president light of life developments inc ivy lam vp sales marketing light of life developments inc john s rogers joyce bremner board chair yamashita cao director of major town of aurora invididual giving united way of york region eef way of york re over 550000 amex canada inc over 200000 motorola canada limited over 150000 allstate canada group of companies johnson johnson medical products staples business depot state farm insurance companies over 100000 acklandsgrainger inc the regional municipality of york york region district school board over 75000 enterprise rentacar lexmark canada inc toromont cat town of markham over 50000 407 etr concession company ltd acnielsen ceridian canada ltd upporters datamirror corporation earth tech canada inc itw construction products marshall macklin monaghan limited pfizer consumer healthcare solectron services steelcase canada ltd victaulic company of canada wyeth pharmaceuticals benefactors michael j egan mr barry hart denise jean joubert rick michelle keilhauer philip lanni paul marylou little robert ogilvie john sherrill rogers mr mrs don joan walker builders court d carruthers mr jacob h deleeuw michael j donoghue jennifer forster maria angelita michael gamelo john wilma gibb marianne hamilton mike wendy hortie ms barbara j houlding john livey suresh mather donna mccann mr james b mcleod dr andrew ruth patterson robert peterson robert theresa scullion tony shamata morris shneck mr gregory sorbara pat greg spencer nigel w stokes mary michael tambosso annamaria vela david wetherald graham gale wright eric cheryl wright 6 anonymous donors legacy donors daniel jandreeski stan and mary neal philip c schell garry young washing hands best defence from page 1 generously sponsored by friends of united way of york region chen said cases are happening all of the time weve seen increases in the past couple of months but we often see increases in the winter time while c difficile which first turned up in hospitals in the 1970s is not uncom mon infectious disease specialists are concerned because it appears to have mutated into a lethal strain dr allison mcgeer the head of infec tion control at torontos mount sinai hospital said strains of c difficile have become stronger and more resistant to antibiotics although it is not clear why the bug has become more deadly dr mcgeer suggests its a combination of broadspectrum antibiotic use less attention to hospital cleanliness and the fact hospitals treat much sicker patients while dr chen stresses the local med ical community struggles with the cdiffi- cile bacteria on an ongoing basis not everyone views it as a public health issue its not being viewed as a serious prob lem by the yorks health department because it has not been informed about any cases in the region said ken brown the regions manager of infectious dis ease said while c difficile is not one of the provinces 75 reportable disease list doc tors do call the regions health depart ment if cases pop up we do not have any outbreaks in york region at this time mr brown said southlake health centre last experi enced c difficile deaths in 2004 during the course of a year the bacteria killed three people at trie newmarket hospital the last death in july 2004 brigette boaretto southlakes manager of infec tion prevention and control reported c difficile is found in facilities such as hospitals and longterm care centres symptoms include diarrhea fever nau sea and abdominal pain while blood may be detected in the stool the bacte ria cannot be spread through the air rather its spread when a person touches a contaminated surface and then touch es his mouth the best way to avoid the bacteria is to wash your hands often isolate ill patients and monitor them mr brown said the risk of coming down with c diffi cile while a patient at southlake remains low ms boaretto said as well southlake has a procedure that stipulates any patient who has diarrhea at the time of admission or develops it while in the hos pital is placed on contact precautions and tested for the bacteria anyone who tests positive for c diffi cile is followed daily by staff from the infection prevention and control staff ms boaretto said while hospitals are not required to report incidents of c difficile to their local health department southlake does share its number of cases with york region public health department on a bimonthly basis although c difficile has not claimed lives at markhamstouffivlle hospital recently if and when the bacteria turns up treatment is prompt and patients are monitored is ongoing leslie walsh the hospitals manager of marketing said we monitor it vigilantly ms walsh said there has been no noticeable changes in frequency lately it varies from day to day as soon as the bacteria is iden tified infection control professionals are consulted for more information about cdifucile call the health connection line at 18003615653