C-Diff: Ways to Make Your Patients Safer

[AHRQ]

Clostridium difficile infections can be painful, dangerous or even deadly. Because of this, reducing the number of patients infected with Clostridium difficile or C. difficile is a public health imperative. Hospital billing data collected by AHRQ shows that more than 9% of C. diff-related hospitalizations end in death-nearly five times the rate for other hospital stays. That adds up to more than 30,000 fatalities among the 347,000 C. diff hospitalizations in 2010 (1).

While healthy individuals who are infected with C. difficile generally do not become ill, for those with weakened immune systems it can lead to serious health consequences. Because the infection is best managed by rapidly recognizing symptoms, AHRQ has developed tools to help you and others at your hospital of practice keep your patients safe.

Get the Clinical Bottom Line on C. difficile Infection (CDI) AHRQ research finds that the three major standard antibiotic treatments--oral vancomycin, metronidazole, and the newly approved fidaxomicin--are equally effective for curing initial C. difficile infections. The report also examined the comparative effectiveness of current diagnostic tests, prevention methods, and the use of fewer general antibiotics to minimize the likelihood of creating drug-resistant infections.

Give a presentation to your hospital staff on the CDI Clinical Bottom Line using an EHC Program slide presentation.

Learn how to talk to your patients who are infected C-diff about their treatment options. Use the consumer summary entitled Clostridium difficile Infections: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention.

Implement a C-diff quality and safety program in your hospital by using the "]ERASE C-difficile toolkit from AHRQ.

What concerns you most of C-difficle infections and how to control them?

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(1) http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/reports/statbriefs/sb124.jsp and http://www.ahrq.gov/news/newsletters/research-activities/mar12/0312RA39.html