The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today is kicking off a statewide education campaign on preventing the spread of Clostridium difficile, also known as C.diff, a sometimes-fatal bacterium that causes symptoms ranging from diarrhea to life-threatening inflammation of the colon and intestines.

The Illinois Campaign to Eliminate C.difficile (ICE C.diff) will implement programming to educate hospital workers and health care personnel on preventing the spread of C.diff. Illinois was one of 15 states funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to implement programming for C. diff prevention.

C.diff is commonly spread from person-to-person via contaminated surfaces or the unwashed hands of healthcare personnel, patients and visitors. The most dangerous source of spread to others is patients with diarrhea. As part of this campaign, IDPH is partnering with IFMC-IL, the state quality improvement organization, to host a series of educational webinars for healthcare workers on C.diff beginning March 13th, and three upcoming regional workshops for teams of healthcare workers in the Chicago area, Central Illinois, and Southern Illinois.