[brian]

C. diff. infections prompt hospitals to step up sterilization and doctors to use antibiotics judiciously.

Kelleigh Nelson of Knoxville, Tenn., always considered herself healthy. But three years ago, as she puts it, "Everything went to hell in a hand-basket."

After minor outpatient surgery, Nelson, 61, took a large dose of prescribed antibiotics. Then, severe diarrhea struck, along with persistent stomach cramping and a fever. It was like "having the worst possible case of the stomach flu," she says.

But this was no stomach flu. It was the latest bacterial super bug, Clostridium difficile, commonly known as C. diff.

An unusually dangerous strain of this spore-forming disease is on the loose, ravaging an increasing number of healthy bodies in recent years.

Full Story:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/servi...,3590771.story

[oramar]

Oh goodness, they allowed a person with cdiff to share a room with a new mother. Where the heck was the infection control nurse?

[psalm]

...how many infections are helped along by VISITORS who don't wear gowns, don't wash hands, lie in bed with the pt, use the pts bathroom, shares the food, etc. I am so irritated by visitors who think they don't have to glove and gown when they visit someone in isolation. Our visiting policy of "almost anything goes" has hurt the health care system and gone into the community. Am I the only one who thinks along these lines?

[greene]

I work in an office, and we have seen more and more cases of UTI's resistant to Cipro. The patients have been on it for 2 weeks with no relief of symptoms.
It's getting a little scarry when our old "tried and true" drugs are no longer working.

[elizabells]

Originally Posted by psalm

...how many infections are helped along by VISITORS who don't wear gowns, don't wash hands, lie in bed with the pt, use the pts bathroom, shares the food, etc. I am so irritated by visitors who think they don't have to glove and gown when they visit someone in isolation. Our visiting policy of "almost anything goes" has hurt the health care system and gone into the community. Am I the only one who thinks along these lines?

Nope. Our families don't have to observe contact isolation unless they have multiples. Okay, so they're only handling their own baby, but they're touching doors, sinks, vending machines, elevator buttons... It's so absurd.

[bollweevil]

Why is this allowed to go on? Maybe the public has to sue the hospitals for not protecting visitors of patients?