C.diff Superbug Threat
Move over MRSA. A new superbug is popping up in hospitals across the country. It’s called C.Diff and it’s spreading through hospitals and health care facilities, and it’s proving to be more aggressive than the MRSA bug.
According to Dr. Daniel Perlman, president of Infectious Society of America’s Colorado chapter, 100,000 people die annually in the United States from infections they acquire in the hospital. Eighteen to 20 thousand of those fatalities die from these bacteria.
Clostridium Difficile, known as C.Diff is a toxic bacteria that causes diarrhea. It is resistant to antibiotics.
“It’s a significant problem and it’s been increasing in the past few years,” says Dr. Perlman.
C.Diff’s resistance to antibiotics allows it to spread easily through hospital. In fact, the drugs can actually increase the risk of getting the bug. “Those antibiotics for their infection kill the bacteria that are normal in the bowel and C.Diff bacteria starts growing in the bowel,” Dr. Perlman says.
The toxic bacteria can easily be spread from person to person and is found on high-touch surfaces, like elevator buttons, sinks, bed and hand rails and doors. The bacteria transfer from your hands, to your mouth and enter your body.
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The medical community increasingly has had to prescribe stronger antibiotics to treat inflammatory diseases that have become more prevalent such as inflammatory colitis. That might have opened the gate for the ascendancy of C-Diff bacteria, more dangerous than MRSA to spread. Because antibiotics kill a large portion of the normal flora within the bowel, the loss of healthy bacteria may invite C-Diff bacteria to take hold and grow; subsequently spreading though the patient and potentially to surface areas the patient had contact. The medical community is in a catch 22. To stop MRSA and inflammatory infections, doctors have to use increasingly stronger antibiotics to save lives; but those antibiotics might also create more resistant life threatening bugs.
I am in williamson Medical Center Franklin, TN I brought my husband to this hospital for a back operation Thursday, 8/26/10 I waited in his hospital room most of the day. That afternoon I got violently ill and had to go to the emergency room then they put me in ICU because of low blood pressure. I have never known such pain. Today I have found out (still in hospital 9/1/10) that I have c-diff. This is very hard for me to take that I got this in a place I brought my husband for help. I can’t help him at all and I am very stressed! What can a person do? I had to hire people to stay at my home and another person to take care of my horses. It is not only the money but all that goes with this type of situation. They are checking my heart today for fluids? All I know to do is pray.