Dangerous Bacteria, Clostridium difficile, also Spreads Outside Hospitals: CDC

Dangerous Bacteria Also Spreads Outside Hospitals: CDC - Yahoo! News:


The dangerous bacteria Clostridium difficile spreads not only in hospitals but also in other health-care settings, causing infections and death rates to hit "historic highs," U.S. health officials reported Tuesday.

"C. difficile is a deadly diarrheal infection that poses a significant threat to U.S. health care patients," Ileana Arias, principal deputy director at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a morning news conference. "C. difficile is causing many Americans to suffer and die."

The germ is linked to about 14,000 deaths in the United States every year. People most at risk from C. difficile are those who take antibiotics and also receive care in any medical facility.

"This failure is more difficult to accept because these are treatable, often preventable deaths," Arias said. "We know what can be done to do a better job of protecting our patients."

Much of the growth of this bacterial epidemic has been due to the overuse of antibiotics, the CDC noted in its March 6 report. Unlike healthy people, people in poor health are at high risk for C. difficile infection.

Almost 50 percent of infections are among people under 65, but more than 90 percent of deaths are among those aged 65 and older, according to the report.