Clostridium difficile is a bacterium normally found in the intestines of humans, other mammals and fish, mammalian feces, and soils. This Gram positive anaerobic bacterium is a member of the bacteria family that produces exotoxins that can cause tetanus and botulism, as well as other diseases. Sometimes under diagnosed, as unspecified intestinal infections, C. difficile causes approximately 3 million cases of diarrhea and colitis in the United States each year. It is considered to be one of the main causes of hospital-acquired diarrhea.
Patients at greatest risk include those that have undergone antimicrobial or antibiotic treatments, such as those with inflammatory bowel disease. These patients on antibiotic therapy can develop infectious diarrhea from a sudden overgrowth of C. difficile, commonly known as Clostridium difficile Associated Diarrhea and Colitis (CDAD). Symptoms can include cramps, fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, and abdominal pain. Most cases of C. difficile are mild and go away without treatment, but patients, especially the young and elderly, are at risk for dehydration. In rare cases, patients can develop a more serious disease, pseudomembranous colitis (PMC), which can cause severe damage to the large intestines.
C. difficile is a spore forming bacillus that can exist in the environment up to 70 days. Common routes of transmission include contaminated patient-to-patient contact, and health care provider contact with contaminated feces (infected humans) or environmental surfaces (contaminated inanimate objects) to patient contact. Additional contamination sites can include toilets, telephones, electronic rectal thermometers, and bathtubs.
To prevent infection, health care providers are recommended to use gloves, hand washing, environmental disinfection, isolation techniques (private rooms) and other aseptic procedures.
For more information on sampling for C. difficile or other Nosocomial infections, please contact Aerotech Laboratories, Inc. at 800.651.4802 or visit www.aerotechlabs.com.
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