Link: Hamilton Spectator – News.
An academic study of the two outbreaks at the Barton Street facility was co-authored by Cheryl Main, who is now an infectious disease physician with Hamilton Health Sciences.
It found inmates commonly shared "bedding, towels and clothing within cellblocks," practices that could contribute to the spread of CA-MRSA. Inmates also switch cells often.
"We issue personal care items, towels and bedding, clean, to individual inmates. We also let them know what the risks of sharing those items are, but obviously we can’t prevent them from sharing if they choose to do so."
He said the high turnover of inmates at the facility, which partly functions as a remand centre, makes frequent cell switching a necessity. Still, he said, the cases that did arrive were caught, suggesting infection control procedures are working.
In extreme cases, infected inmates who don’t comply with procedures such as changing wound dressings daily are put in isolation until the infection clears up
