Programs and services » Infectious disease prevention and control Infectious disease prevention and control

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Significant improvements have been made to the infectious disease landscape in Ontario, but OAHPP believes that more needs to be and can be done. Our Infectious Disease Prevention and Control (IDPC) team is working with partners in government and in the field to create a unified infection control strategy for the province. Our goal is to support a more comprehensive and systematic approach to infectious diseases in Ontario across different parts of the health-care system, including public health, long-term care and acute care settings, in order to reduce the risk and incidence of health-care associated infections.

Through technical guidance, training, surveillance and expertise, we support improved prevention and control of these diseases and other epidemiologically significant organisms in both health-care and community settings.

We also provide consultation on issues experienced by our partners in the field.  Questions from those working in public health, hospitals, long-term care and other health-care settings related to infectious disease and infection prevention and control are welcomed!  Contact us at info@oahpp.ca.

Current Initiatives

1. Supporting Ontario’s pH1N1 response
2. Reducing hospital-acquired infections
3. Safer hospital design
4. Infection control resource teams
5. New therapeutic options for treating C. difficile

During the pandemic H1N1 outbreak, IDPC provides support to the OAHPP-led Scientific Response Team (SRT).  The SRT is responsible for collecting, reviewing and synthesizing scientific evidence to help inform guidance documents issued by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s Emergency Operations Centre (MEOC).  Guidance has been provided for a variety of settings including acute care, long-term care, shelters and ambulatory care.  As well, we support MEOC with responses to questions about infection prevention and control from public health and health-care providers.

Many infection prevention and control programs provide strategies to transfer ownership of infection control to front-line health-care workers. Positive deviance is a change management strategy that has been shown in pilot trials in the United States to be more effective at controlling the spread of organisms such as MRSA than more traditional infection control strategies.

OAHPP is supporting the first Canadian pilot sites for research on the use of positive deviance in improving hospital-acquired infection rates. This project is funded in part by grants from the Canadian Patient Safety Institute and other sources.

The team is exploring opportunities to promote the design of safer hospitals from the perspective of infectious disease prevention and control. This involves understanding the flow of staff and patient traffic, and providing recommendations about the placement and design of sinks for hand hygiene and appropriate placement of alcohol-based hand rub dispensers.
This work is being undertaken in collaboration with partners including the University Health Network, the University of Toronto and the Ontario College of Art and Design.

OAHPP has established infection control resource teams to provide rapid, on-site assistance with outbreak investigation and management in hospitals. The teams include infection control experts from OAHPP, the University Health Network and the Ottawa Hospital.

How does it work?

Prior to the launch of infection control resource teams through OAHPP, hospitals seeking outbreak advice had to wade through the extensive infection prevention and control documents that are available, or phone other hospitals to ask for help.

Hospitals or public health units can call OAHPP for advice or request on-site assistance about a confirmed or potential outbreak. Once a call is received, a teleconference is scheduled to assess the situation. Advice may be offered over the phone or a site visit may be required.

If a site visit is warranted, we will assemble and dispatch a team to the facility. Advice and a suggested action plan will be shared at the end of the visit, followed by a formal report to the Chief Medical Officer of Health, the hospital and the public health unit.

To learn more about Infection Control Resource Teams or request on-site assistance, please contact ICRT@oahpp.ca.

This study is investigating the clinical effectiveness of stool transplant in the treatment of severe disease caused by C. difficile. Although C. difficile in most patients is a relatively brief illness that is treatable with antibiotics, approximately 20 per cent of patients will unfortunately experience more severe disease that relapses after antibiotics are stopped.

C. difficile is sometimes caused by the loss of normal intestinal bacteria as a result of antibiotic treatment. Therefore, replacing intestinal bacteria has been tried as treatment. While these small studies have suggested that stool transplant (giving stool from a relative via an enema) is highly effective, it has not been rigorously studied.