The Food and Drug Administration is moving to tighten regulations around fecal transplants, which research has shown to be an effective treatment for Clostridium difficile infection.
People who are depressed or lonely are at increased risk of Clostridium difficile infection, according to recently published research.
Long-term care providers might want to pay special attention to residents with certain recently identified risk factors for Clostridium difficile. These factors are chronic dialysis, recent hospitalization and use of corticosteroids such as prednisone.
Stomach acid is often treated with medications such as Pepcid, but that could put long-term care residents or hospitalized patients at risk for Clostridium difficile, according to a new analysis.
May 01, 2013
Preventing the spread of MRSA, CRE and other hospital-acquired infections(HAI's) is quickly becoming a top priority in skilled nursing and long-term care facilities. Yet we often overlook disinfecting procedures on our vital signs monitoring equipment.
People with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) have a significantly elevated risk of dying from Clostridium difficile infection, according to a recent study.
Taking antihistamines such as Tagamet, Pepcid and Zantac increases the risk that people in healthcare settings will be infected with Clostridium difficile, according to a recently published study.
March 27, 2013
The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology has issued an updated Clostridium difficile infections Implementation Guide.
Long-term care operators and other healthcare providers are having limited success in combating Clostridium difficile infections, despite increasing their efforts in the last three years, according to recently released survey results.
March 08, 2013
I sat in morning report as the nursing supervisor announced the arrival of a new resident. An 80-year old woman was taken to the hospital after a fall at home, where she received a below-knee amputation and contracted C. diff before being transferred to our facility. I looked around the room and speculated about what each of my team members were thinking, imagining thought bubbles over their heads.
February 15, 2013
The numbers are in and they are grim. There are 165,000 cases, $1.3 billion in excess costs, and 9,000 deaths from Clostridium difficile infections that are healthcare-acquired in the United States annually.
A pair of Clostridium difficile patients were cured through introduction of a super-probiotic synthetic stool called RePOOPulate, leading researchers to express hope that the treatment can be adopted on a more widespread basis.
Contact precautions for patients with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus led to healthcare workers practicing better hand hygiene, a study has found.
Researchers have hit on a potentially novel way to fight Clostridium difficile: a cocktail of six different types of bacteria.
Researchers say they nearly eliminated deadly antibiotic-resistant bacteria in a study encompassing 50 patient rooms at two medical facilities by using a specific spectrum of ultraviolet light.
Government health officials have released a tracking tool that can help nursing homes monitor healthcare-acquired infections.
August 27, 2012
Many people shudder when they think about the 9/11 tragedy, and rightfully so. The four suicide attacks carried out on September 11 of 2001 caused nearly 3,000 deaths. But imagine if there were 10 such attacks every year and 30,000 people died. Actually, 30,000 people DO die every year, thanks to a silent killer most people have never heard of.
July 30, 2012
Basic infection prevention and control isn't rocket science. It is essentially following some general guidelines. Some of them pretty simplistic. Not too hard right? You would think, but ...
Some individuals are predisposed — either genetically or due to an underlying inflammatory condition — to recurrent Clostridium difficile infections, new research finds.
Use of proton pump inhibitors, which have medications used to suppress stomach acid, can increase the risk of Clostridium difficile infections, especially when combined with antibiotics, a new study finds.
The Department of Health and Human Services is seeking public comments on its updated action plan — which includes efforts in nursing homes — to reduce or eliminate healthcare-associated infections.
November 01, 2011
Living at a nursing home may be a predictor of whether a hospital patient dies from Clostridium difficile, a new study suggests.
People infected with Clostridium difficile were five times more likely to die if they had recently taken stomach acid medications, a new study revealed.
An experimental compound, which investigators say could be used as an alternative to antibiotics, has been shown to be effective in fighting Clostridium difficile in laboratory mice.
Private rooms in intensive care units help to reduce hospital infections, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and C. difficile, according to a study published in the January issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Researchers waging an "all out war" against C. difficile were able to significantly reduce the number of infections at their facility within three months, according to the results of a new study.
Move over, MRSA. Clostridium difficile is on its way to becoming the most common healthcare-associated infection in the country, a new report suggests.
