UTI-Antibiotics- C Diff- Three weeks away.

[NoDecafPlz]

People, take your acidophillis every day!
If you go in the hospital for a UTI make
damn sure they prescribe floura Q and Flagyl.

C Diff is no joke- Chronic Diarhea due to being stripping of
friendly bacteria in DS. This doesn't go away without a fight!

Joe

[adi chicago]

cultured yogourt is enough ?
do you know other meds to prevent cdiff?

[JerryF504]

I asked my doctor about this a while back and he said butter milk was good for it, but if I didn't like that I could find something at the pharmacy called lactobacillus.

[NoDecafPlz]

Sure, if you want to do it the old-fashioned way.



I'm all out of info, maybe SCI nurse can add more?

Joe

[noryn]

C diff is an opportunistic bacteria. Once you are on antibiotics it kills a lot of the good and normal bacteria in your intestine and what comes along and takes root? The C-diff can.

The thinking behind yogurt and lactobacillus is that these can replace the bacteria that are damaged hence keeping C diff from taking hold. I am not sure how effective this is though.

The most important thing is to have every person including the doctor who touches you in the hospital to wash their hands first for at least 15 seconds or make sure they use the hand sanitizer. Talk to your nurse and let them know to put a sign above your bed that noone is to touch you until you see them wash their hands.

I dont think taking Flagyl just to prevent this is a good idea, Flagyl will wreck havoc on your stomach plus can lead to resistant infections. Although once you have this Flagyl is usually the treatment.

The key though is to make sure your immune system is a good as possible. Eat well, exercise to the best of your ability and get plenty of Vitamin C.

[SCI-Nurse]

c. diff can develop two basic ways. Being on antibiotics can cause the small numbers of c. diff in your gut to overgrow. But c. diff is also very infectious, and since it is common in hospitals, you can catch it from poor handwashing by staff and poor cleaning of equipment. It is one of the few bugs that is not killed by alcohol-based hand cleaner, and it can stay infectious on toilet seats, door knobs, etc. for many days.

Good hand washing with an antiseptic soap such as Hibiclens is recommended for those caring for anyone with c. diff, and surfaces should be cleaned on a regular basis and after exposure to stool with a bleach solution (10% in a spray solution which stays damp for 60 seconds before wiping).

It would never be recommended to take preventive medications for c. diff. such as described in the first post here. We are already seeing many strains of c. diff that are resistant to these bugs, and using these preventively will only accelerate that process.

You can try using acidophilus and other "probiotic" products, but they are no guarantee of not getting c. diff. Good hygiene, and insisting that those who care for you wash their hands before any contact with you is the best defense.

(KLD)

[noryn]

KLD!
Another lesson learned! I didnt realize the alcohol based hand sanitizers were not effective against C diff although I dont like these anyway. I still cannot understand why this alcohol based hand sanitizer is acceptable in hospitals especially in light that it isnt effective against C diff. For the most part, when someone has C diff in a hospital it isnt known right away unless you have an experienced person who can detect the smell. Once someone starts having multiple episodes of diarrhea then usually a test for the toxin is performed but before this the bacteria are going to be prevalent especially on fomites on the hospital floor to which my point is that hand sanitizer isnt effective.

C diff doesnt seem to be as prevalent as MRSA but there are still quite a few patients developing this.

[SCI-Nurse]

Alcohol based hand cleaners are shown to be superior to hand washing except for c. diff and anthrax (as long as the hand cleaner is at least 60% alcohol by volume). It is more effective for MRSA for example, which is often life threatening, unlike c. diff which is more a major annoyance than it is a threat to life (you don't get septicemia from c. diff, for example):

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5116a1.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5116a2.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/fs021025.htm

It is also much easier to use, and now days is widely available in hallway and bedside dispensers when sinks may not be available.

Soap and water must be used first if hands are visably soiled.

Patients with known c. diff should be isolated. At my hospital, we place the appropriate antiseptic soap dispenser at the sink for any c. diff patients, which alerts staff to use this for these patients (in addition to door signage).

(KLD)