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A study reveals that the use of doxycycline may help protect against Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) infection for some patients with pneumonia. Specifically, study authors found that for hospitalized patients with community-acquired pneumonia who had experienced C. diff infections in the prior year, the use of doxycycline, instead of the more commonly used azithromycin, reduced the development of new C. diff infections by 45%. More than a third of patients who suffer a C. diff infection will go on to have another in the future. For patients who are admitted to a hospital with pneumonia, clinical guidelines typically recommend the...

You can't even make this stuff up. The FDA just approved a pill to fight Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) that is literally just filled with other people's poop. C. diff is a particularly nasty bacteria that results in uncontrollable diarrhea and is responsible for 30,000 to 40,000 deaths in the United States every year. Most cases of C. diff occur after someone has been on antibiotics for an extended period, wiping out all the naturally occurring bacteria in their gut, allowing C. diff to propagate unabated. The new pill called Vowst has fecal matter from healthy people and is full...

The number of cases of a terrifying superbug in NHS hospitals has surged after the Government ignored warnings—and relaxed the rules on fighting infections. Hundreds more patients fell ill with deadly Clostridium difficile—known as C.diff—between April 2014 and March 2015 than in the previous year. The increase, from 13,361 to 14,165, came immediately after the system for fining hospitals with too many cases was dramatically weakened. …

Mark Smith was a microbiology graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology when, in 2011, a family friend became infected with the notorious superbug clostridium difficile. C. diff can cause severe diarrhea, disability, and malnutrition and is responsible for roughly 14,000 deaths in the United States each year. In 2012, after taking seven rounds of the antibiotic vancomycin and failing to improve, Smith’s friend received a DIY fecal transplant from his roommate—in their apartment, using an over-the-counter enema kit. The friend recovered within days, but “the whole thing was absurd, not at all how it should be done,” Smith...

A number of intestinal pathogens can cause problems after antibiotic administration, said Justin Sonnenburg, PhD, assistant professor of microbiology and immunology and the senior author of the study, to be published online Sept. 1 in Nature. Graduate students Katharine Ng and Jessica Ferreyra shared lead authorship. "Antibiotics open the door for these pathogens to take hold. But how, exactly, that occurs hasn't been well understood," Sonnenburg said. In the first 24 hours after administration of oral antibiotics, a spike in carbohydrate availability takes place in the gut, the study says. This transient nutrient surplus, combined with the reduction of friendly...

Certain types of antidepressants may put people at an increased risk for developing a deadly superbug infection, a new study suggested. Researchers from the University of Michigan revealed that individuals who suffer from depression and those taking antidepressants such as mirtazapine and fluoxetine had a much higher chance of contracting Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) – a life threatening infection that can cause severe diarrhea and inflammation of the colon. One of the most common infections acquired by patients at hospitals, C. difficile has been occurring with more and more frequency, resulting in the deaths of 14,000 individuals in the United...

Enlarge Image Microbial menace. A cocktail of gut bacteria may one day be used to treat the chronic diarrhea caused by this bacterium. Credit: David Goulding Genome Research Limited A tonic of gut microbes may be the secret recipe for treating a common hospital scourge. Researchers have pinpointed the exact mix of microbes required to cure mice of a chronic infection by a hard-to-treat bacterium that causes bloating, pain, and diarrhea in people. A similar bacterial cocktail may one day be able to replace a controversial treatment involving the intake of fecal matter to restore the right balance of...

A total of 17 people have been infected with Clostridium difficile at a hospital in Moray. NHS ...revealed on Wednesday that two elderly people with the C.diff infection had died. Two wards have been closed to new admissions but health officials said the patients were giving no cause for concern. The health board said the deaths happened in April and that both the patients had been frail.

Protecting Yourself From Nasty Superbugs: Suggestions From Mayo Clinic ScienceDaily (June 23, 2008) — Superbugs -- bacteria that are resistant to many commonly used antibiotics -- can seem scary. Antibiotic resistance means illnesses last longer, and the risk of complications and death increases. Many factors have contributed to the emergence of superbugs, including overuse and misuse of antibiotics. One superbug, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), has been a problem in health care settings for years. In this environment, the bacteria is spread from one patient to another via the hands of care providers or by contaminated equipment. Increasingly, MRSA is appearing...

Hospital Superbugs Now In Nursing Homes And Community ScienceDaily (Nov. 28, 2007) — Hospital superbugs that can break down antibiotics are so widespread throughout Europe that doctors increasingly have to use the few remaining drugs that they reserve for emergencies. Now these hospital superbug strains have spread to nursing homes and into the community in Ireland, raising fears of wider antibiotic resistance, scientists heard 28 November 2007at the Federation of Infection Societies Conference 2007. Doctors collected 732 samples from 22 Irish hospitals over the last ten years and found that 61% of them, 448 samples, tested positive for bacteria that...

Superbug kills war hero who survived three years as a PoWLast updated at 00:42am on 1st September 2007  The family of a distinguished war veteran have criticised the hospital where he was infected by a killer bug. Major Sam Weller - who survived three years as a prisoner of war - died after catching Clostridium Difficile following an operation on his hip. His relatives said he had been let down by the country he fought for. Major Weller, 88, had surgery at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital but he developed an infection and was given a course of antibiotics. Weeks later...

Second superbug outbreak kills thirteen By Martin Beckford Last Updated: 11:38am BST 05/04/2007 Thirteen patients suffering from the superbug Clostridium difficile have died at another Norfolk hospital. It was revealed last week that an outbreak of the bug has killed 17 people at the James Paget Hospital in Gorleston, near Great Yarmouth, since December. Now the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in King’s Lynn, just 65 miles away, has said that 13 of its patients who had C.difficile have died since the start of the year. The bug, which causes severe diarrhoea, was directly responsible for eight of the deaths and...

Superbug death was 'diabolical' By Laura Donnelly and Jasper Copping, Sunday Telegraph Last Updated: 11:25pm BST 31/03/2007 The widow of a man who fell victim to a superbug that has claimed 17 lives at a Norfolk hospital yesterday described his death as "diabolical". Great-grandfather Leslie Burton-Pye, 74, was infected with Clostridium difficile in January while visiting the James Paget Hospital in Gorleston for a blood transfusion. He fell ill soon after and was admitted to the hospital where he stayed until released in mid-March. He was re-admitted last Sunday and died the next day. Yesterday, his widow, Mavis, 67, said:...

rp rise in suberbug death toll By Matthew Moore and PA Last Updated: 3:04pm GMT 22/02/2007 More patients are dying of conditions linked to the hospital superbugs MRSA and Clostridium difficile (C-diff), it was revealed today. Between 2004 and 2005, mention of MRSA on death certificates rose by 39 per cent while mention of C-diff rose 69 per cent, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The Conservatives today described the rise as "staggering", and said the Government had failed to put in place an effective strategy for combatting the bugs. "Labour's savage bed cuts over the...

Hospitals told to isolate patients with superbug By Beezy Marsh, Health Correspondent, Sunday Telegraph Last Updated: 12:27am GMT 19/11/2006 Hospitals have been ordered to create MRSA isolation wards where necessary to treat patients infected with the superbug. Under controversial Government plans, all elderly people admitted from nursing homes will be screened for MRSA and forced to use antibacterial shampoo, shower gels and creams as a precaution. Millions more patients scheduled for operations such as hip replacements and heart and brain surgery will also be checked for infection. According to the Department of Health guidance, those found to be infected should...

It begins as microscopic bacteria that invades the intestine with the potential to kill in extreme cases, or cause severe bouts of diarrhea in other instances. Probably a hundred cases have occurred in the past year in the Antelope Valley, though most of those stricken with Clostridium difficile survived, according to Dr. Michael Cohen, an infectious diseases specialist in Lancaster who tends to patients at Antelope Valley and Lancaster Community hospitals. "We've had cases at both hospitals," Cohen said. "Cases have been documented nationwide. At least three patients in Antelope Valley died." Deaths usually result from one of two conditions:...

TRENTON, N.J. - New Jersey is among the states seeing an increase in deaths from an intestinal bacterial infection that most often strikes older hospital patients who have taken antibiotics. National occurrences are up as well because, officials say, an overuse of antibiotics for other ailments is killing off the "good" bacteria that used to control the growth of Clostridium difficile bacterium. In the Garden State, the number of deaths attributed to the infection has doubled since 1997. State hospital discharge data reviewed by The Record of Bergen County found the infection has sickened 10,000 New Jerseyans a year, killing...

Associated Press CHICAGO — Holiday revelers beware: Seasonal indulgences such as eggnog and fruitcake might give you heartburn, but the acid-fighting medicine you take for relief might lead to something worse, researchers say. People on popular prescription drugs for treating acid reflux — Prilosec, Prevacid and Nexium — seem more prone to getting a potentially dangerous diarrhea caused by the bacterium Clostridium difficile, new research shows. C-diff, as it's known, can cause severe diarrhea and crampy intestinal inflammation called colitis. Dr. Sandra Dial and colleagues at McGill University in Montreal examined data on more than 18,000 patients in the United...

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...

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 Thursday. 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...