This is good news for older patients in hospital.

A new study has found rates of an often recurring hospital-associated bacterial infection have fallen dramatically in hospitals across the country since 2009.

It’s called Clostridium difficile, or C. difficile, and its bacteria produce a toxin which inflames the colon, causing debilitating diarrhea and leading to sometimes fatal illness.

In Monday’s Canadian Medical Association Journal, researchers report hospital-caught C. diff infections dropped by more than 35 per cent between 2009 and 2015.

Lead author Dr. Kevin Katz of Toronto’s North York General Hospital suspects the drop is tied to improved infection-control measures, including more judicious use of antibiotics, frequent hand-washing and intense cleaning of hospital facilities.

Seniors and people taking antibiotics are most vulnerable to the infection.