What’s still tripping us up? Blind spots in healthcare-associated C. diff prevention
Despite sustained focus and decades of guidance, Clostridioides difficile remains the most common healthcare-associated infection and an ongoing challenge for hospitals. Many organizations have achieved meaningful reductions, yet “breakthrough” transmission persists — often driven not by lack of effort, but by overlooked operational blind spots.
This session examines where C. diff prevention programs may still be faltering, and why doing more of the same may no longer be enough. Drawing on evolving epidemiology, frontline workflow realities and real-world IPC–EVS intersections, this webinar will highlight prevention gaps that have surfaced outside traditional playbooks. While environmental cleaning and disinfection will be explored in depth, the discussion will also address complementary blind spots, including but not limited to delayed identification and isolation, communication failures, diagnostic stewardship and care transitions.
Participants will leave with practical, actionable strategies that emphasize universal controls, early interventions and reliable execution across care transitions — closing gaps that matter for reducing hospital-onset C. diff infections.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
- Illustrate the changing epidemiology of C. diff
- Identify common blind spots in healthcare-associated C. diff prevention.
- Describe practical, evidence-informed strategies with a focus on environmental cleaning.