A deadly new strain of a superbug called C. difficile is gaining a grip in Ontario hospitals and causing patients to worry that being hospitalized could literally be a cure worse than their disease.

FAQs on Clostridium difficile outbreaks in Canada, why health officials are concerned, how it is spread and treated and tips for people caring for for someone affected with the infection.

C. difficile was cited as a factor in 17 of the deaths. Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital in Windsor had 37 deaths from C. difficile from April 2006 to March, 2008.

St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto is battling an outbreak of C. difficile after seven patients tested positive for the infectious bacterial disease, hospital officials revealed last night.