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Clostridium Difficile Prevention (C. Diff)
Each year in the United States, about a half million people get sick from C. difficile, and in recent years, C. difficile infections have become more frequent, severe and difficult to treat.
What is it?
Clostridium difficile (klos-TRID-e-um dif-uh-SEEL), often called C. difficile or C. diff, is a bacterium that can cause symptoms ranging from diarrhea to life-threatening inflammation of the colon.
Symptoms and Treatment
Some people carry the bacterium C. difficile in their intestines but never become sick, though they may still spread the infection. Signs and symptoms usually develop within five to 10 days after starting a course of antibiotics, but may occur as soon as the first day or up to two months later.
Outbreaks
Illness from C. difficile most commonly affects older adults in hospitals or in long-term care facilities and typically occurs after use of antibiotic medications. However, studies show increasing rates of C. difficile infection among people traditionally not considered high risk, such as younger and healthy individuals without a history of antibiotic use or exposure to health care facilities.
Each year in the United States, about a half million people get sick from C. difficile, and in recent years, C. difficile infections have become more frequent, severe and difficult to treat.
Infection PREVENTION OF Clostridium Difficile
To help prevent the spread of C. difficile, hospitals and other health care facilities follow strict infection-control guidelines. Preventive measures include:
Hand-washing. Health care workers should practice good hand hygiene before and after treating each person in their care. In the event of a C. difficile outbreak, using soap and warm water is a better choice for hand hygiene, because alcohol-based hand sanitizers do not effectively destroy C. difficile spores. Visitors also should wash their hands with soap and warm water before and after leaving the room or using the bathroom.
Contact precautions. People who are hospitalized with C. difficile have a private room or share a room with someone who has the same illness. Hospital staff and visitors wear disposable gloves and isolation gowns while in the room.
Thorough cleaning. In any setting, all surfaces should be carefully disinfected with a EPA registered product kills C. difficiel. C. difficile spores can survive routine cleaning products.
Avoid unnecessary use of antibiotics. Antibiotics are sometimes prescribed for viral illnesses that aren't helped by these drugs. Take a wait-and-see attitude with simple ailments. If you do need an antibiotic, ask your doctor to prescribe one that has a narrow range and that you take for the shortest time possible.
HSP PROFESSIONAL SOLUTIONS FOR Clostridium Difficile PREVENTION
It is necessary to disinfect with a product that is EPA registered to kill Clostridium Difficile. SPOREX disinfectant kill Clostridium Difficile in 3 minutes. Also check out iCLEAN FOR HEALTH 361 System and VersaWipe to help effectively eliminate Clostridium Difficile.