Clostridium Difficile News and Research

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Clostridium difficile is a type of bacterium found in human and animal waste. Clostridium difficile is a common cause of diarrhea that occurs in hospitals. It can also cause diarrhea or other intestinal disorders in patients treated with antibiotics.

Simple device for disinfecting stethoscopes

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 1,900,000 people contract infections in hospitals, (Hospital Acquired Infections - HAIs) every year and well over 99,000 die as a result; more deaths than from AIDS, breast cancer and auto accidents combined.

12 Mar 2012

Hospitals with infection control certification may have lower MRSA BSI rates

Hospitals whose infection prevention and control programs are led by a director who is board certified in infection prevention and control have significantly lower rates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream infections (BSI) than those that are not led by a certified professional, according to a new study published in the March issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of APIC - the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.

12 Mar 2012

Patient feedback on how NHS hospitals are doing important

Patients are reportedly happy with the services they received at the Weston General Hospital outpatient department. The survey of 850 patients revealed Weston Area Health NHS Trust has improved in 13 areas since the last survey in 2009 and performs significantly better than other NHS trusts in 12 areas.

15 Feb 2012

Acid reducing drugs could raise risk of C. diff diarrhea

U.S. health regulators, the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), have announced that ulcer drugs such as AstraZeneca Plc's blockbuster Nexium could increase the risk of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD).

9 Feb 2012

Study identifies norovirus as major cause of all infection outbreaks in U.S. hospitals

Norovirus, a pathogen that often causes food poisoning and gastroenteritis, was responsible for 18.2 percent of all infection outbreaks and 65 percent of ward closures in U.S. hospitals during a two-year period, according to a new study published in the February issue of the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC), the official publication of APIC - the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.

1 Feb 2012

FDA clears Meridian Bioscience's new Clostridium difficile assay

Meridian Bioscience, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio today announced it has received FDA clearance for a new Clostridium difficile assay, ImmunoCard C. difficile GDH.

27 Dec 2011

FDA approves modernized labeling for ViroPharma's Vancocin Capsules

ViroPharma Incorporated today announced the modernization of labeling for Vancocin (vancomycin hydrochloride, USP) Capsules made effective through the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approval of a supplemental new drug application.

15 Dec 2011

Avidocin protein could prevent or treat E. coli O157:H7-induced diarrhea

A novel antibacterial protein targeted against E. coli O157:H7 may offer a way to prevent or treat serious food-borne bacterial infections, as demonstrated in a study published in the December issue of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

21 Nov 2011

CDC launches new antibiotic tracking system

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is launching a new antibiotic tracking system allowing hospitals to monitor antibiotic use electronically, make better decisions about how to improve use, and compare themselves to other hospitals. Before now, CDC was only able to track antibiotic use in doctors' offices.

15 Nov 2011

Great Basin seeks FDA 510(k) approval for C. difficile molecular diagnostic test

Great Basin Corporation, a privately held life sciences company developing sample-to-result molecular diagnostic solutions, today announced it has submitted a 510(k) application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its first molecular diagnostic test for Clostridium difficile (C. diff).

14 Nov 2011

Hand washing in hospitals may keep super bugs away: Report

A recent survey of hospitals has shown that the successful implementation of good hand washing practices in hospitals by nurses and doctors is effective in reducing the drug resistant superbugs. This comes after the introduction of a national program to boost hand hygiene compliance rates in hospitals by encouraging staff to use alcohol-based hand rubs before and after treating patients. To make it easier for hospital workers to clean their hands, alcohol-based hand rubs are being installed at the foot or near the head of every bed.

10 Nov 2011

MBL-HCV1 can reduce viral load in liver transplant patients

A human monoclonal antibody developed by MassBiologics of the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) given to patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection undergoing liver transplantation significantly suppressed the virus for at least a week after transplant and delayed the time to viral rebound.

8 Nov 2011

AHRQ awarded $34M in fiscal year 2011 to expand fight against HAIs

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality announced that it has awarded $34 million in fiscal year 2011 for grants and contracts to hospitals, academic medical institutions, and health care research organizations to expand the fight against healthcare-associated infections.

5 Nov 2011

Study finds multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in 48% of infected patient rooms

Multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (MDR-AB) was found in the environment of 48 percent of the rooms of patients colonized or infected with the pathogen, according to a new study published in the November issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of APIC - the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.

2 Nov 2011

Colonoscopic FMT effective in treating IBD, C.difficile-associated diarrhea

Growing evidence for the effectiveness of fecal microbiota transplants as a treatment for patients with recurrent bouts of Clostridium difficile (C.difficile) associated diarrhea is presented in three studies -- including a long-term follow-up of colonoscopic fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) for recurrent C. difficile Infection that included 77 patients from five different states-- unveiled today at the American College of Gastroenterology's (ACG) 76th Annual Scientific meeting in Washington, DC.

1 Nov 2011

Nursing home residence may allow for 'on-admission' prediction model of C. difficile infection severity

Antibiotics may not be the only risk factor associated with community-acquired Clostridium difficile infection, indicating that other undefined causes of the potentially life-threatening infection may exist and could also predict whether or not a patient will require hospitalization, according to the results of the study, "Predictors of Hospitalization in Community-Acquired Clostridium difficile Infection."

31 Oct 2011

'Good bugs' promising against ulcerative colitis, psoriasis, chronic fatigue syndrome

In four different studies presented at the American College of Gastroenterology's (ACG) 76th Annual Scientific meeting in Washington, DC, researchers explored the effectiveness of probiotics for antibiotic-associated diarrhea; as an anti-inflammatory agent for patients with ulcerative colitis, psoriasis and chronic fatigue syndrome; and for people with abdominal discomfort and bloating who have not been diagnosed with a functional bowel disorder, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

31 Oct 2011

Prevention training critical to reduction of hospital infection rates

Infections picked up in hospital affect almost a third of patients in intensive care, and kill 44% of those people. Given that some infectious agents can linger for weeks or months it is increasingly important that staff awareness of the problem is improved and that training in infection prevention across the National Health Service and in private healthcare is expanded, according to researchers at the University of Northampton.

15 Oct 2011

Thomson Reuters launches Infection Xpert solution

Thomson Reuters, a global provider of information for healthcare professionals, has launched Infection Xpert — a clinical intelligence dashboard that helps infection preventionists (IPs) manage and reduce hospital-acquired infections (HAIs), capture and submit mandated infection reporting metrics, and analyze hospital infection data to improve patient safety.

12 Oct 2011

Virginia Bioinformatics Institute releases upgraded ENISI software

Researchers with the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech have released an upgrade to the institute's ENteric Immunity SImulator (ENISI) software, which models immune responses to beneficial and harmful bacteria that enter the gastrointestinal tract of mice, pigs, and humans.

7 Oct 2011