C Difficile Infection

The drug met endpoints of one phase III trial, but not another.

Researchers examined the impact of metronidazole on the restoration of normal bowel habits in infants.

A company seeks to mitigate HAI risks with UV light docks for mobile devices.

Between 2012 and 2014, 19 Pomona Valley patients died from C. difficile infection. One environmental services employee quoted in the LA Times said that she had not received any training on infection control in her 12 years of employment there.

A Polish research team concluded that there are two mortality models for patients with pneumonia being treated for Clostridium difficile infection. and recommended the exclusion of one antibiotic from pneumonia treatment in hospitals.

Patients with a history of congestive heart failure were at increased risk of death during study trials of the drug, which is intended to fight recurring Clostridium difficile infections.

“Our results suggest that intestinal microbiota can be modified relatively permanently,” researcher Reetta Satokari explained.

Researchers from Vanderbilt University used mice models in order to demonstrate the affects of zinc on the course of a C. difficile infection.

Many major hospitals that admit varied patients with a wide breadth of ailments, including the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, have high rates of Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infection, according to the report.

Antibiotics and hospital admission are both risk factors. The team’s interest was in correlating two known factors across different patients: does antibiotic use in one patient increase the chance that their hospital bed’s next occupant will wind up with a C. difficile infection?

Considered safe and effective in killing certain types of bacteria, ultraviolet-C light, when used to disinfect hospital rooms, could prevent Clostridium difficile infections and potentially save millions of dollars.

The study authors learned that fecal microbial transplant was used in the society of fourth century China, when “yellow soup” was thought to treat diarrhea. However, contemporary treatments see the fecal transfer through donor feces to break the imbalance and infection in patients with C. difficile multiple recurrent infections.

Patients with Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) may pass along the bacteria infection to either pets or children they share a house with, according to a study published in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

“It definitely gave me an incentive,” says Kim D. Janda of his experience with Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) and its influence on his current work to find better treatments for the common and sometimes fatal intestinal infection.

White patients are more likely to get clostridium difficile infections (CDI) in the hospital, but black people are more likely to die from CDI, according to the results of a recent retrospective analysis.

There is a critical need for nonantibiotic therapies to treat CDIs, and the researchers say, “Knowledge of the mechanism of C. difficile toxin regulation will be critical in developing novel nonantibiotic therapies to target the toxins for the treatment of this pathogen of significant public health importance.”

Antimicrobial treatment is the most important modifiable risk factor for clostridium difficile infection (CDI) in hemato-oncological patients, according to a recent study. The researchers conclude that chemotherapy itself is not a risk factor for CDI in this patient population.

Phages were originally discovered and administered as a treatment a century ago, but fell by the wayside in favor of antibiotics. "But now we have this strong driver of antimicrobial resistance. There is a big resurgence in this area, so it’s an exciting time to be looking at these organisms,” says Martha Clokie.

The family dog has been implicated in an epidemiological study tracing the spread of Clostridium difficile (C. difficile).

An investigational therapy developed from healthy donor stool specimens treated with ethanol to eliminate pathogens—the resulting spores of which are fractionated and encapsulated for oral delivery as SER-109—appears to effectively treat recurrent Clostridium difficile infection.

It is important for patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) to understand more about their condition and track their diet and bowel habits to help manage their symptoms. These apps for the iPhone and iPad provide useful information for patients that can help them learn more about the symptoms and management of IBS, track their medications and daily habits, and share this information with their health care providers.