Clostridium Difficile
Tiffany Hoang
Health Science Technology
03/03/2016
Clostridium Difficile
Clostridium difficile also known as C. diff is a disease caused by a germ which in the United States infected half a million people in 2011, and twenty nine thousand people that died within thirty days. Patients with this disease have symptoms such as watery diarrhea, fever, loss of appetite, nausea, and abdominal pain. Usually, people who are at increased risk for C. diff had gastrointestinal surgery, or is living at an advanced age. Clostridium difficile basically is a bacteria that causes an infection to the colon that occurs especially among seniors who are in healthcare institutions such as nursing homes or hospitals (CDC, 2015).
Pathophysiology …show more content…
diff is a bacteria that lives in the intestines. It is a normal bacteria that if remained in balance with the other bacterias in the gut, people would not have issues with it their whole lives. However, if the balance changes causing the C. diff bacteria to become overpopulated increases the risk of an infection to occur. Clostridium difficile could be spread by the feces and contaminated food or objects that have been touched or in contact with the infected patients (Gale, 2013). C. diff is an anaerobic, bacterium that could sporulate in different environments (CDC, 2015). The C. diff spores on surfaces can last for weeks or months without the proper cleaning (Gale, 2013). Environmental contamination by this microorganism is well known, especially in places where fecal contamination may occur (CDC, 2015). C. diff infections can spread from one person to another via fecal-oral transmission. Transmission can also occur in healthcare settings where the use of antibiotics is high (Gale, 2013). To further understand more of this particular bacteria, one could look further into the symptoms and clinical manifestation of C. …show more content…
diff infections vary depending on the current types of medication that the patient is taking could require possible elimination or replacement of antibiotics. Clostridium difficile is especially resistant to the antibiotic group called fluoroquinolones, and could be susceptible to other antibiotics. Mild to moderate cases the patients would likely be put on the antibiotic metronidazole at a dosage of 500 mg orally three times everyday for ten days. Special cases where the patient is allergic or intolerant to metronidazole or in severe infections, that does not respond well to the antibiotic after five to seven days would have to take vancomycin. The dosage of vancomycin usually is about 125 mg four times a day for ten days also. In double special cases the dosage of vancomycin could be delivered via the enema. Although, there still are other patients that have more complicated C. diff infections typically they would have one of the following, abnormally low blood pressure, shock, a condition in which tissues inside the body does not receive a sufficient amount of oxygen and nutrients for their cells to function normally, ileus, the intestines have a blockage, or megacolon, an enlarged colon. In such cases treatment could be intravenous fluids, electrolyte replacement, treatment for blood clots, a combination of vancomycin and metronidazole. When the wall of the colon is thickened a scan is needed to look into the abdomen and the pelvis to check for
Tiffany Hoang
Health Science Technology
03/03/2016
Clostridium Difficile
Clostridium difficile also known as C. diff is a disease caused by a germ which in the United States infected half a million people in 2011, and twenty nine thousand people that died within thirty days. Patients with this disease have symptoms such as watery diarrhea, fever, loss of appetite, nausea, and abdominal pain. Usually, people who are at increased risk for C. diff had gastrointestinal surgery, or is living at an advanced age. Clostridium difficile basically is a bacteria that causes an infection to the colon that occurs especially among seniors who are in healthcare institutions such as nursing homes or hospitals (CDC, 2015).
Pathophysiology …show more content…
diff is a bacteria that lives in the intestines. It is a normal bacteria that if remained in balance with the other bacterias in the gut, people would not have issues with it their whole lives. However, if the balance changes causing the C. diff bacteria to become overpopulated increases the risk of an infection to occur. Clostridium difficile could be spread by the feces and contaminated food or objects that have been touched or in contact with the infected patients (Gale, 2013). C. diff is an anaerobic, bacterium that could sporulate in different environments (CDC, 2015). The C. diff spores on surfaces can last for weeks or months without the proper cleaning (Gale, 2013). Environmental contamination by this microorganism is well known, especially in places where fecal contamination may occur (CDC, 2015). C. diff infections can spread from one person to another via fecal-oral transmission. Transmission can also occur in healthcare settings where the use of antibiotics is high (Gale, 2013). To further understand more of this particular bacteria, one could look further into the symptoms and clinical manifestation of C. …show more content…
diff infections vary depending on the current types of medication that the patient is taking could require possible elimination or replacement of antibiotics. Clostridium difficile is especially resistant to the antibiotic group called fluoroquinolones, and could be susceptible to other antibiotics. Mild to moderate cases the patients would likely be put on the antibiotic metronidazole at a dosage of 500 mg orally three times everyday for ten days. Special cases where the patient is allergic or intolerant to metronidazole or in severe infections, that does not respond well to the antibiotic after five to seven days would have to take vancomycin. The dosage of vancomycin usually is about 125 mg four times a day for ten days also. In double special cases the dosage of vancomycin could be delivered via the enema. Although, there still are other patients that have more complicated C. diff infections typically they would have one of the following, abnormally low blood pressure, shock, a condition in which tissues inside the body does not receive a sufficient amount of oxygen and nutrients for their cells to function normally, ileus, the intestines have a blockage, or megacolon, an enlarged colon. In such cases treatment could be intravenous fluids, electrolyte replacement, treatment for blood clots, a combination of vancomycin and metronidazole. When the wall of the colon is thickened a scan is needed to look into the abdomen and the pelvis to check for