Category Archives: Clostridium Difficile (C. diff)

Fecal transplants — bad puns and all –a promising cure for C. Diff

Though inspiring endless bad puns like ‘poopsickle’ and “rePOOPulating the gut,” fecal transplants are nevertheless showing considerable promise for treating the enteric scourge of Clostridium difficile infections (CDIs). The form of this unique therapeutic approach ranges from pooled donor feces…

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The challenge of reducing C. diff infections in a health care system driven by ‘perverse incentives’

At a recent meeting on that problematic nasty pathogen Clostridium difficile, the dramatic reductions of C. diff infections by hospitals in the United Kingdom cast something of a pall over the proceedings. While U.S. epidemiologists pointed to slides to take…

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Dramatic reduction of C. diff infections in UK an ‘indictment’ of U.S. struggles

The dramatic reduction of  Clostridium difficile infections (CDI) in hospitals in the United Kingdom is putting considerable pressure on American infection preventionists and health care epidemiologists to follow suit with similar success. Yet despite increasing infection prevention efforts in many…

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C. diff tough, but IPs are battling back

Baltimore: While Clostridium difficile has clearly won several of the early rounds, infection preventionists are making progress in the fight to prevent C. diff infections (CDIs), according to a new survey by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology…

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Using antibiotic stewardship to reduce C. diff infections

Antimicrobial stewardship programs specifically targeting Clostridium difficile infections offer a  promising path to protect patients from this enteric scourge, but may have little effect unless a broad range of other infection control measures are also put in place, researchers are…

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The formidable challenge of C. diff: Top experts convening in Baltimore to look for new approaches to thwart a nasty bug

Dramatic progress in reducing several major health care associated infections (HAIs) in recent years has been offset by the unrelenting rise of Clostridium difficile, the spore-forming pathogen that can cling steadfast to hands even after washing. While, there hopeful signs…

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C. diff no longer a mystery meat: Healthcare is the battleground

One finding that slid under the radar recently in a CDC report on the surging epidemic of Clostridium difficile was that 94% of the infections were linked to health care. That’s logical enough, you may well note, but consider that…

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C. diff infections move beyond the hospital

Clostridium difficile is moving beyond its traditional stronghold in the hospital to cause infections in long term care and ambulatory settings, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. While many health care-associated infections, such as bloodstream infections, declined in…

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And the award for the top HAI on the patient misery index goes to… C. Diff! Again!

If there is a healthcare associated infection (HAI) higher on the patient misery index than Clostridium difficile please submit a nomination, but we give the default award to this nasty opportunist that can go from benign gut dweller to explosive…

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Getting in the drug stewardship ‘driver’s seat”

As a key complement to its new antibiotic use tracking system, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is partnering with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) in a pilot program to prevent overuse and misuse of antibiotics in hospitals….

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