What is c-diff?

Question

What is c-diff?

Answer 1

C. difficile

Definition

Healthcare associated infections — illnesses you acquire during a stay in a hospital or longterm care facility — aren't new. But in recent years, the infections have reached epidemic proportions in hospitals and nursing homes around the world. One of the most widespread and potentially serious of these illnesses is caused by the bacterium Clostridium difficile, often simply called C. diff or C. difficile.

C. difficile bacteria are everywhere — in soil, air, water, human and animal f***s, and on most surfaces. The bacteria don't create problems until they grow in abnormally large numbers in the intestinal tract of people taking antibiotics or other antimicrobial drugs. Then, C. difficile can cause symptoms ranging from diarrhea to life-threatening inflammations of the colon. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, each year in the United States C. difficile is responsible for tens of thousands of cases of diarrhea and at least 5,000 deaths. And the problem is getting worse. The number of C. difficile infections doubled between 1993 and 2003, with most of the increase coming after 2000.

C. difficile isn't confined exclusively to hospitals. It's also a growing problem among otherwise healthy people. And although the infection can usually be controlled with antibiotics, virulent strains of C. difficile are now appearing that resist treatment with common medications.

Symptoms

Some people who are infected with C. difficile never become sick, though they can still spread the infection. Others have bouts of watery diarrhea, often with nausea and abdominal pain and cramping. And an increasing number of people develop colitis or pseudomembranous colitis — severe inflammations of the colon. Signs and symptoms of these potentially life-threatening illnesses include:

Profuse, watery diarrhea — 10 or more bowel movements a day

Fever, often greater than 101 F

Abdominal pain, which may be severe

Blood or pus in the stool

Nausea

Dehydration

Weight loss

Most people develop C. difficile infection during or shortly after a course of antibiotics, but signs and symptoms may not appear for weeks or even months after treatment has stopped.

Answer 2

C. diff stands for Clostridium difficile, a bacteria that is found in the colon or intestine.

Your body has both good and bad bacteria. Fortunately, the good bacteria typically keep the bad bacteria in check. C. diff is a bad bacteria which can grow quickly.  It can become a problem when people have been taking antibiotics for a long time.

Most antibiotics do not eliminate C. diff, so when the antibiotics kill the good bacteria, C. diff is left unchecked and it can rapidly produce toxins which the body cannot fight off easily. This leads to flu-like symptoms initially like weakness, muscle aches, fever, nausea and intense diarrhea. C. diff infections can be very serious for the elderly and for people with weakened immune systems. When C. diff is not treated effectively, death can occur.

C. diff is communicable through the spores they produce. It is critical that adequate infection control techniques be used. Hand washing with soap and water when done properly can remove the C. diff spores from hands. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers will NOT eliminate C. diff. A bleach solution should be used instead.

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