NHS Choices has conducted an assessment of a report in the Daily Mail has reported. “Hospitals may be adopting the wrong strategy for combating a notorious bug on the wards.” This story is based on new research investigating the transmission of Clostridium difficile.

The story is based on research that found two-thirds of new cases in hospital were not linked to any cases of patients known to be infected, with less than a quarter of the newly infected patients having the same type of C. difficile infection as a patient on their ward who was known to be infected. This research challenges the assumption that C. difficile is spread on wards through contact with infected patients and suggests that current strategies focusing on preventing person-to-person spread may not stop C. difficile transmission.

The study was carried out by British researchers and published in the peer reviewed journal Public Library of Science: Medicine (PLoS Medicine). The assessment notes that while the Mail accurately reported the study’s findings, its headline and introduction may suggest that current infection-control studies are wrong. It concludes that “this research cannot tell us how good hospital prevention strategies are at stopping C. difficile from spreading. In fact, infection control studies are useful for combating most bacterial menaces, and may still have a role in halting C. difficile.” People visiting and being admitted to hospital should continue to follow their hospital’s hygiene advice, particularly regarding hand washing and the use of alcohol hand gels.”