In the ongoing battle against the C. difficile, hospitals may have a new weapon: dogs

The canines are able to accurately sniff out the presence of C. difficile, one of the most prevalent hospital-acquired infections, in stool samples and in the air near patients who have the infections, say the findings of a study released this month in the British Medical Journal.

Researchers at the VU University Medical Centre in Amsterdam say their results indicate that dogs could be used in hospitals as an additional screening tool, to help in early detection, and to prevent outbreaks.

Clostridium difficile is one of the most common causes of infectious diarrhea in hospitals and long-term care facilities; the elderly and those with underlying health problems are most at risk. It has become a problem, in part, because of the over-use of antibiotics. In Ontario, it is believed that there are 3,000 to 4,000 cases each year.

The researchers came up with the idea for the study from to the distinct smell of diarrhea due to C difficile.

“There are some experienced nurses who can recognize C. difficile just by smell, so we thought that if the human nose can sniff it, it must be so much easier for a dog, because they have a superior sense of smell,” said Marije Bomers, a researcher in the department of internal medicine.

They then trained a 2-year-old Beagle, Cliff, to recognize C. difficile in stool samples and in patients with the infection. Cliff was taught to sit or lie down next to the bed of the patient.

After two months of training, Cliff’s detection rates were encouraging, said Bomers.

In the first test, Cliff was able to sniff out the bacteria in 50 C. difficile positive and 50 C.difficile negative stool samples. He correctly identified all 50 positive and 47 out of 50 negative samples.

Cliff was then taken to the hospital ward to test detection in patients. He was able to identify 25 out of 30 cases and 265 out of 270 negative controls.

“He did this correctly just by smelling the air surrounding the patient, he didn’t even need a stool sample,” said Bomers. “He can identify if a patient has C. difficile or not just by walking by.”

There are some limitations to the study, such as potential for spreading infections through the dog and the unpredictability of using an animal. It is also unclear if the dogs can get the infection themselves, said Bomers.

But she says the next step would be to assess if the presence of sniffer dogs makes a difference in early detection and helps prevent the outbreak of the infection in a ward or hospital.

“You could use this dog to regularly screen your hospital, and maybe you could find your C. difficile cases much earlier,” said Bomers. “The benefit of this detector is that you don’t need a sample, or a doctor to make a diagnosis. It merely involves taking a dog for a walk around the ward.”

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