C- What?

C-Diff. Short for Clostridium Difficile. It is a bacteria found in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of healthy and sick people alike, however if c-diff is given the opportunity to rise, it causes infection.

Symptoms include nausea, watery diarrhea, abdominal pain and/or tenderness, and loss of appetite. Hmm...sound familiar? And for those in the health care profession who have smelt it- you know it's hard to forget!

Mom was having all of these symptoms in the hospital, so they collected a sample before she left, and sure enough results came back positive this morning.

Because Mom was on broad spectrum antibiotics for a prolonged period of time, it decreased her immune function, allowing c-diff to grow and cause these symptoms.

The icky part of it is that it can also be transmitted through fecal-oral contact. Meaning someone who is infected (or a healthcare worker who touches an infected patient) may touch something without washing their hands, then comes along another immunocomprimised person or healthcare worker that exposes themselves or their patients.

It is very common in hospitals, and very rare outside of them. Moral of the story?

WASH YOUR HANDS!

Here's what the Center of Disease Control (CDC) Recommends:

1. Wet your hands with clean running water and apply soap. Use warm water if it is available.
2. Rub hands together to make a lather and scrub all surfaces.
3. Continue rubbing hands for 20 seconds. Need a timer? Imagine singing "Happy Birthday" twice.
4. Rinse hands well under running water
5. Dry your hands using a paper towel or air dryer. If possible, use your paper towel to turn off the faucet.

http://www.cdc.gov/cleanhands/

For the rest of the day, just think about what you're touching, and who could have touched it before you. Brings whole new meaning to "eat shit," doesn't it?