TABLE 4.

Recovery of C. difficile from high-reach environmental sites on wards A and B at 6-month intervals throughout the study

Ward and location	Culture positivity on the following sample date (mo/yr)a:
	08/97	06/98	05/99	11/99	06/00	11/00	05/01	10/01
Ward A
Bay curtain rails		+	+				+	+
Bay overbed lamps		+	+			+	+	+
Bay partitions				+		+	+	+
Bay window frames							+	+
Door tops		+		+		+	+
Door frames							+	+
Fire hoses				+	+		+	+
Ward smoke detector
Toilet curtain rails							+	+
Treatment room supplies caddy
Ward B
Bay curtain rails	+	+			+
Bay overbed lamps		+	+	+	+		+
Bay partitions	+	+		+	+
Bay window frames			+			+
Door tops		+	+
Door frames			+	+
Fire hoses		+			+
Ward smoke detector
Toilet curtain rails	+		+
Treatment room supplies caddy

^a+, at least one of the samples from site type was culture positive for C. difficile.