C. Diff creating havoc, causing more illnesses and death

[cougarnurse]

FYI: Gut superbug causing more illnesses, deaths - Yahoo! News

ATLANTA - The number of people hospitalized with a dangerous intestinal superbug has been growing by more than 10,000 cases a year, according to a new study.
The germ, resistant to some antibiotics, has become a regular menace in hospitals and nursing homes. The study found it played a role in nearly 300,000 hospitalizations in 2005, more than double the number in 2000.
The infection, Clostridium difficile, is found in the colon and can cause diarrhea and a more serious intestinal condition known as colitis. It is spread by spores in feces. But the spores are difficult to kill with most conventional household cleaners or antibacterial soap.
C-diff, as it's known, has grown resistant to certain antibiotics that work against other colon bacteria. The result: When patients take those antibiotics, competing bacteria die off and C-diff explodes.
This virulent strain of C-diff was rarely seen before 2000.
"The nature of this infection is changing. It's more severe," said Dr. L. Clifford McDonald, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expert who was not part of the study.
There are other factors that play into the rise of C-diff cases as well, including a larger of number of patients who are older and sicker. "And there may be some overuse and inappropriate use of antibiotics," said Dr. Marya Zilberberg, a University of Massachusetts researcher and lead author of the study.
The Zilberberg study was based on a sample of more than 36 million annual discharges from non-governmental U.S. hospitals. That data was used to generate the study's national estimates.
The research is being published in the June issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases, a CDC publication.
Using other scientists' estimates, the study concluded that 2.3 percent of the cases in 2004 were fatal — about 5,500 deaths. That was nearly double the percentage of C-diff-related cases that ended in death in 2000.
Many of the people who died had other health problems. The study did not try to determine if Clostridium difficile was the main cause of death in each case, Zilberberg said.
But earlier research concluded the infection is the underlying cause of thousands of deaths annually, and the problem is getting worse.
C-diff has become an acute health concern in Canada, where it was blamed for 260 deaths at seven Ontario hospitals recently, and 2,000 deaths in Quebec since 2002.
The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology is currently working with U.S. hospitals to study prevalence of the infection and what infection control measures seem to work best.
"This is not a time for alarm, but more a time for educating health professionals to understand this particular pathogen," said Kathy Warye, chief executive of the Washington, D.C.-based association.

Any thoughts or comments on the subject???

[Aaron C.]

The only comment I would have is that it is NASTY. The smell is just brutal.

However, I had salmonella and it made all those nightmarish times as a nursing student cleaning up patients with C Diff seem like a walk in the park in comparison.

C Diff

MRSA

VRE

Especially VRE. Just wait. 10 years from now that stuff is going to be insane. I have long been predicting nightmarish scenarios about mrsa and vre however I was premature in those predictions I guess. mrsa has been in the news quite a bit lately at least here in Oklahoma but not on the level I see those two eventually hitting.

When I had salmonella the doctor initially treated me with c dif as I was just coming off antibiotics. Unfortunately all that really did was delay my suffering.

[nunzi]

Good day fellow Nurses!

I would like to share this information with you, regarding
C-DIFF and how many healthcare professionals can sometimes
play down and forget just how serious this bacterial
infection can be.

Until I acquired C-Diff this
May ~ it was just another diagnosis, just another
bacteria/micro-organism that exists in our
facilities, just another diagnosis that we treat,
just another bacteria that we try NOT to acquire
or bring home to our loved ones. It was known and
not focused on or thought about in a great way.

Since living with this horrible bacteria, which has
now left me with Post C-Diff acute IBS - being treated
with multiple medications, with the possibility of perm. bowel nerve damage ~ I can now advocate to everyone about
C-Diff. There have been many telephone conversations
to the experts at the CDC in Atlanta, three GI physicians
treating the symptoms and so many visits to the
primary that I have actually accumulated "frequent
flyer miles" from his office. By now I should own the
entire china set! LOL

It is SO true ~ the bacterial infections that the media
has reported on and we have heard about on the news
and through the articles ~ the one that we work
with and around daily in our profession are changing!
They ARE more resistent to the ABT's and have proven to
return quickly after completion of the antibiotic therapy.

Here we thought those hand sanitizers, used in between
hand washing, were keeping us safe. We have used
them on the med carts, the nurses stations ~ wiping
down just about everything in sight THINKING that we
were killing the nasty critters that can make US ill.
Guess again! Through reading the articles, speaking
to the different research specialists and physicians
researching C-Diff they have found that bleach-based
disinfectants are the BEST cleaners to use - NOT alcohol
based cleaners for they do not kill many bacteria/micro-organisms at all. Warm water, friction, and soap ~ that
will work every time! Fifteen seconds of handwashing works.

The local facilities/acute care and long-term housekeeping
departments (when questioned) do not even utilize bleach
based cleaners in patients rooms or in the facilities.
Then we wonder WHY C-Diff and other micro-organisms
(MRSA, etc..) are on the rise. First off, patient to
patient contact then the cleaning agents being used that
ARE NOT combating these germs. There is a lot to be
said about this bacterial infection. I am young enough
to endure the horrible symptoms from it and yet it may
take up to another six months to heal the GI system.

Please advocate for your patients ~ if an antibiotic is in use, suggest the use of a probiotic in conjunction to keep the normal flora maintained. That helps! Lactinex is a good one and really helped during the course of Flagyl. Handwashing, just can NOT stress it enough and remember ~ C-Diff CAN live outside of the body - the spores dry - and remain seventy days on inanimate objects (pens, door knobs, bed rails, over bed tables, nursing stations, sinks - you name it!) and YOU could be the next victim. The researchers have also found C-Diff spores on metal shopping baskets out in the Community!! Think about that after you have been out grocery shopping and at your local
retailer.

My vehicle now carries Clorox pop-ups and Clorox cleanup w/paper towels to spray my hands after touching the community baskets for it is a sure way to spare another round of grief from
this bacteria.

Fifteen years of Nursing and never acquired anything and this year was my lucky year! It happened and now I can post this message to YOU and hope you read it with a new understanding on how serious this bug really is!

Wishing YOU GOOD health and safe clinical practices always,
Nunzi