Oak Towers taking steps to prevent illness from spreading
The Columbia Housing Authority is barring access to common areas and disinfecting parts of the Oak Towers complex after a few residents came down with a potentially fatal illness.
Housing authority CEO Phil Steinhaus said the bacterium C. diff, which can cause severe diarrhea and colon inflammation, was found in an Oak Towers resident who recently died, though it did not cause the death. Another resident is now hospitalized with C. diff and one other has reported symptoms, though that case has not been confirmed, Steinhaus said.
The housing authority is also giving residents information about preventing infection, including how to disinfect living areas.
The illness usually afflicts older adults in hospitals or long-term care facilities. Oak Towers is a low-income housing project in central Columbia for people 55 and older.
The Boone County Medical Examiner’s Office said it has seen no recent deaths caused by C. diff infection.
