Experts issue warning on C. diff bacterium

A bacterium that spreads rapidly in health care facilities, costing the country $1 billion annually, is triggering a historically high number of deaths, experts said Tuesday.

Clostridium difficile -- C. diff -- is a notorious spore producer that has long been thought of as a hospital-linked bacterium. But new research reported Tuesday reveals it to be prevalent across the health care spectrum.

C. diff is in doctor's offices, clinics and nursing homes -- anywhere medicine is practiced, experts now say.

"C. diff has climbed and continues to climb at historically and unacceptably high levels," said Dr. Ileana Arias, deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC estimates 337,000 infections annually in the United States, with 14,000 people dying of a disease that can be prevented through hand-washing and the use of bleach when cleaning surfaces. It costs $1 billion annually to combat the bacterium.

The agency called on medical professionals to begin the task of minimizing C. diff in health care facilities.

"Other hospital infections are going down, but this one is going up," said Dr. Clifford McDonald, lead author of the CDC report.

The New York State Health Department tallied 16,053 cases of C. diff last year based on hospital reporting from 2010.

State data showed 5,928 C. diff infections involved patients who brought the infection into hospitals from elsewhere. The statistics also revealed 10,125 people contracted the infection in New York hospitals.

C. diff causes a potentially deadly illness marked by severe abdominal pain and diarrhea. People most at risk are unnecessarily on antibiotics, which not only destroy beneficial bacteria in the colon but allow C. diff to flourish, doctors say.

Almost half of all infections occur in people younger than 65, the CDC found, but more than 90 percent of deaths occur in those 65 and older.

The infection is spread when infected people fail to use proper toileting hygiene. Health care workers who must continuously touch patients and don't change gloves after each contact can transport the invisible spores from one patient to the next.

Patients become infected by ingesting the spores.

Spores have been isolated on bed rails, curtains, trays, bedside tables, bedding and walls in hospital rooms. Hospitalized patients also can become infected by ingesting spores that contaminate utensils left on improperly cleaned trays.

On Long Island, Dr. Aaron Glatt, chief administrator of Mercy Medical Center in Rockville Centre, said alcohol-based hand sanitizers are incapable of clearing C. diff spores from contaminated hands. "You need good old-fashioned soap and water," Glatt said.

"This is an infectious disease that physicians really need to think about," added Glatt, also a spokesman for the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

McDonald said spores can survive for months on surfaces.