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CDC: Deadly bacterial illness may be spreading
The Houston Chronicle ^ | Dec. 1, 2005 | MIKE STOBBE

Posted on 12/01/2005 7:45:01 PM PST by neverdem

Associated Press

ATLANTA -- A deadly bacterial illness commonly seen in people on antibiotics appears to be growing more common — even in patients not taking such drugs, federal health officials warned today.

The bacteria are Clostridium difficile, also known as C-diff. The germ is becoming a regular menace in hospitals and nursing homes, and last year it was blamed for 100 deaths over 18 months at a hospital in Quebec, Canada.

Recent cases in four states show it is appearing more often in healthy people who have not been admitted to health-care facilities or even taken antibiotics, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"What exactly has made C-diff act up right now, we don't know," said Dr. L. Clifford McDonald, a CDC epidemiologist.

C-diff is found in the colon and can cause diarrhea and a more serious intestinal condition known as colitis. It is spread by spores in feces. But the spores are difficult to kill with conventional household cleaners.

C-diff has grown resistant to certain antibiotics that work against other colon bacteria. The result: When patients take those antibiotics, particularly clindamycin, competing bacteria die off and C-diff explodes.

The CDC report focused on 33 cases reported since 2003.

Twenty-three involved otherwise healthy people in the Philadelphia area who were not admitted to a hospital within three months of illness. Ten more were otherwise healthy pregnant women who had had brief hospital stays. Those reports came from Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey and New Hampshire.

One of the 33 patients died — a 31-year-old Pennsylvania woman who was 14 weeks pregnant with twins when she first went to the emergency room with symptoms. Despite treatment with antibiotics considered effective against C-diff, she lost the fetuses and then died.

She had been treated about three months earlier for a urinary tract infection with an antibiotic, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Ten others among the 33 patients had taken clindamycin.

But in eight of the 33 cases, patients said they had not taken any antibiotics within three months of the onset of symptoms.


TOPICS: Canada; Culture/Society; Extended News; Government; News/Current Events; US: District of Columbia; US: Georgia; US: New Hampshire; US: New Jersey; US: Ohio; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: cdc; cdiff; cdifficile; clostridia; clostridium
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CDC: Clostridium difficile Frequently Asked Questions About A New Strain Of Clostridium Difficile (July 2005)
1 posted on 12/01/2005 7:45:02 PM PST by neverdem
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To: neverdem

Oh no! I just finished a 10-day course of Clindamycin (sp?) prescribed by my dentist for an abscessed tooth. I am still eating lots of yogurt to restock my gut with good bacteria, but that c-diff stuff sounds like it's impervious to everything. Oh boy, what have I gotten myself into this time?


2 posted on 12/01/2005 8:05:32 PM PST by epow ("Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people" Prov. 14:34)
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To: epow

Try acidophilous, many people consider it's even better at repopulating the gut.


3 posted on 12/01/2005 8:24:30 PM PST by little jeremiah
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To: neverdem
"It is spread by spores in feces."

Charming.

4 posted on 12/01/2005 8:26:33 PM PST by Senator Goldwater
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To: epow
Make sure the yogurt has live bacteria. You'd be surprised how much of it is pasteurized.
5 posted on 12/01/2005 8:27:20 PM PST by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
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To: Senator Goldwater

"It is spread by spores in feces."
Charming


Liberals?


6 posted on 12/01/2005 8:29:49 PM PST by al baby (Father of the beeber)
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To: epow
After any length of time taking antibiotics, I also recommend doing a Candia cleanse...since this yeast will grow and take over after you have killed off your natural Flora.

It is nasty, and can cause a whole host of problems.

Do a web search for cleanse products, and follow the regimen. It's rough, but you will dfeel better that you have in a long time, and a nice side effect is weight loss.

7 posted on 12/01/2005 8:34:21 PM PST by Itzlzha ("The avalanche has already started...it is too late for the pebbles to vote")
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To: neverdem

Bump....


8 posted on 12/01/2005 8:40:24 PM PST by Intolerant in NJ
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To: epow

Kefir is very good.


9 posted on 12/01/2005 8:43:32 PM PST by rose
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To: al baby
"Clostridium difficile, also known as C-diff"

New MTV gangsta rapper?

10 posted on 12/01/2005 8:47:01 PM PST by endthematrix (Those who despise freedom and progress have condemned themselves to isolation, decline, and collapse)
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To: neverdem
Get a grip. Who posts this stuff?

Population of Canada: 32,805,041 (July 2005 est.)
Population of U.S. 295,734,134 (July 2005 est.)
(http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html)

I'll leave out Mexico to be conservative.

33/(32x10^6 + 296x10^6) =~ 1E-7 (one in 10 million) since 2003, 8 died ... one in a hundred million per year

Aren't there more important things to ponder?
11 posted on 12/01/2005 9:02:02 PM PST by sefarkas (why vote Democrat-lite???)
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To: epow
I am still eating lots of yogurt to restock my gut with good bacteria, but that c-diff stuff sounds like it's impervious to everything. Oh boy, what have I gotten myself into this time?

If you get the sh!tz, tell your doc and get tested for C-diff. toxin. If positive, then take metronidazole, aka Flagyl. Check the link in comment 1.

12 posted on 12/01/2005 9:10:09 PM PST by neverdem (May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows that you're dead.)
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To: sefarkas; epow
Aren't there more important things to ponder?

Not particularly, if your interested in microbiology and drug resistant microbes. That's why the CDC has the link in comment 1. I guess you didn't read it. Here's another. [Life-threatening infections with a new strain of Clostridium difficile]

13 posted on 12/01/2005 9:34:36 PM PST by neverdem (May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows that you're dead.)
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To: sefarkas

C-diff is a lot more prevalent than that, and people die every day from it.



14 posted on 12/01/2005 9:37:22 PM PST by Judith Anne (Thank you St. Jude for favors granted.)
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To: epow; little jeremiah; metmom
""Try acidophilous, many people consider it's even better at repopulating the gut. ""


When I was in 4th grade, I threw up EVERY DAY before school. I couldn't eat breakfast, I'd wake up with stomach pains and eventually I'd get sick. It was terrible. We went to the doctor- she thought I was doing it on purpose. My parents were getting fed up, and I was just miserable.

Then my dad discovered acidophiles. Oh my God, that stuff is amazing. I got some pills and within 3 days I stopped throwing up.
15 posted on 12/01/2005 9:42:28 PM PST by LauraleeBraswell
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To: LauraleeBraswell

I know I have yeast problems cause I feel better when I go on a low carb diet (not NO carb) I can tell the difference when I eat anything with sugar in it. The problem is that it seems that I am allergic to something in yogurt. I've made my own goat milk yogurt and break out when I eat more than a couple tablespoons of it soI'm a bit apprehensive about taking acidophilus capsules or tablets. However, I try to keep my kids on it as much as possible. Of my three kids, the one on the antibiotics the earliest has the worst allergies and my youngest, who's only had them a couple times, is the healthiest. If only I could go back in time, knowing what I know now. Now we try to wait it out.


16 posted on 12/01/2005 9:50:13 PM PST by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
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To: Itzlzha; metmom
I'm thinking you meant Candida..

The way to kill off yeast is to drink much (fresh as possible) grapefruit juice, secondarily cranberry. Acidifying your PH renders your body hostile to yeast, which needs an alkaline environment. Think: there is no such thing as orange wine or lime or lemon or cranberry wine, etc.

When I was 15 playing soccer (both before and after school) I got hooked on Dunkin' Donuts coffee, and drank barrels, and developed quite the yeast infection. Ick-ee.

17 posted on 12/01/2005 10:08:35 PM PST by txhurl
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To: little jeremiah
Also, there are Probiotics that have more than just acidophilous in them. Go to CVS and ask for Probiotics for Crohn's or IBS. My daughter takes them for Crohn's and it has made a world of difference.
18 posted on 12/01/2005 10:19:36 PM PST by chuckles
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To: chuckles

You know what I think is also sometimes misdagnosed as Crohn's or Irritable Bowel? Food allergies. I know a woman who started going into anaphylactic shock over a food she couldn't ID. She knew it was something common but until she got tested, didn't realise it was WHEAT! When I asked her if she had any symptoms (because it's rare to all of a sudden develop this out of the blue) she said yeah, that she had been having nausea, vomitting, and intestinal problems for years and it had been diagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome. She never got the hives type reaction.


19 posted on 12/02/2005 6:21:32 AM PST by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
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To: epow
that c-diff stuff sounds like it's impervious to everything.

Here's some C-diff advancing on your internal organs right now.

20 posted on 12/02/2005 6:23:33 AM PST by Lazamataz (Proudly Posting Without Reading The Article Since 1999)
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