Clostridium difficile

Clostridium difficile or C.diff and Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) are terms used to describe a condition which results from a bacterium found in the intestines and stool some people and animals. According to Kassam and colleagues (2013), C.diff is the major cause of health care related infectious diarrhea. Even though bacteria are good for our bodies, some bacteria in our bodies may sometimes cause illnesses such as C.diff. The most common cause of C.diff is the use of antibiotics. The antibiotics work by killing bacteria. Because they cannot differentiate between good and bad bacteria, they may kill good bacteria thereby opening an opportunity for C.diff to thrive and cause illness (Dubberke et al., 2014). C.diff can be spread via the failure to wash hands properly after using washrooms and touching that comes into contact with another person’s mouth. Health care workers can also spread C.diff if they fail to wash their hands in between caring for patients properly.

There are various precautions a health worker should take protect oneself and the patients. As a health worker, one of the precautions is to wash my hands after caring for a patient thoroughly. This will prevent C.diff from spreading from one patient to another. The other thing I will do is to put on gloves and a gown over my clothing when handling a patient with C.diff. I will also ensure that I remove the gloves and gown as I wash my hands before leaving the room where I have been caring for the patient.  The other precaution to take is to ensure that the medical equipment and the patient rooms are thoroughly cleaned using an effective product once they have been used by other patients (Burnham & Carroll, 2013). I will also make sure only to use once or use disposable towels for drying my hands.

References

Burnham, C. A. D., & Carroll, K. C. (2013). Diagnosis of Clostridium difficile infection: an ongoing conundrum for clinicians and for clinical laboratories. Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 26(3), 604-630.

Dubberke, E. R., Carling, P., Carrico, R., Donskey, C. J., Loo, V. G., McDonald, L. C., ... & Gerding, D. N. (2014). Strategies to prevent Clostridium difficile infections in acute care hospitals: 2014 update. Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, 35(S2), S48-S65.

Kassam, Z., Lee, C. H., Yuan, Y., & Hunt, R. H. (2013). Fecal microbiota transplantation for Clostridium difficile infection: systematic review and meta-analysis. The American Journal of Gastroenterology, 108(4), 500-508

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