While most healthcare-associated infections are on the decline, the Centers for Disease Control reports one remains at high levels. It鈥檚 called clostridiumdifficile. What most people refer to as C.difficile or C.diff causes an infectious diarrhea linked to 14,000 American deaths each year.
In this edition of Vital Signs, Dr. PranaviSreeramajou, Chief of Infection Prevention at Parkland Hospital, says awareness is key to fighting C.diff.
From Dr. Sreeramajou鈥檚 interview鈥�
What is C.diff? 鈥淚t鈥檚 a ubiquitous organism. It鈥檚 present in soil, water, everywhere. And it鈥檚 highly likely that we human being ingest c.difficile spores on a regular basis. Most of us remain unaffected. When they鈥檙e (people) are overexposed to antibiotics, and the gut microbial flora is disrupted, and their immune system is, maybe, weak, maybe they鈥檙e elderly, maybe they have multiple medical problems 鈥� and that鈥檚 when the bacteria starts producing toxins that cause inflammation of the colon, and that causes c.diffficle diarrhea."
It鈥檚 a problem for health care facilities: 鈥淎bout 250,000 people per year receive hospitalization because of c.difficile infection. Half of them have onset in the community 鈥� skilled nursing facility, long-term acute care facilities, facilities where there鈥檚 a concentration of elderly population who might be receiving antibiotics for other reasons 鈥� and then, a few proportion of patients have c.difficile infections and these people have never been exposed to antibiotics. That鈥檚 not well understood. There鈥檚 some parts of the pathway that we need to understand better as scientists."
The diarrhea can be quite bad, ranging from mild to serious: 鈥淎nd one to two percent of these patients with c.difficile infection can develop complications, such as an intestinal perforation."
How to prevent against C.diff: 鈥淒o not insist on antibiotic treatments. Most viral infections do not need antibacterial treatment. And when a doctor prescribes antibiotics, discuss the need for it. I wouldn鈥檛 say avoid processed foods altogether, but there is emerging concern that antibiotics use in the food industry can be contributing to the presence of antibiotic resistant bacteria in food. Wash your food. And if someone has diarrhea at home, (pay) extra attention to personal hygiene. Wash your hands frequently."
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