Gut superbug causing more illnesses, deaths - Clostridium difficile report by CDC

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The CDC publication:

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/index.htm

Gut superbug causing more illnesses, deaths

By MIKE STOBBE

AP Medical Writer

May 28, 2008

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/ats-ap_health10may28,1,56364\

90.story

ATLANTA --- The number of people hospitalized with a dangerous

intestinal superbug has been growing by more than 10,000 cases a year,

according to a new study.

The germ, resistant to some antibiotics, has become a regular menace in

hospitals and nursing homes. The study found it played a role in nearly

300,000 hospitalizations in 2005, more than double the number in 2000.

The infection, Clostridium difficile, 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 most conventional household cleaners or antibacterial soap.

C-diff, as it's known, has grown resistant to certain antibiotics that

work against other colon bacteria. The result: When patients take those

antibiotics, competing bacteria die off and C-diff explodes.

This virulent strain of C-diff was rarely seen before 2000.

" The nature of this infection is changing. It's more severe, " said Dr.

L. Clifford Mc, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

expert who was not part of the study.

There are other factors that play into the rise of C-diff cases as well,

including a larger of number of patients who are older and sicker. " And

there may be some overuse and inappropriate use of antibiotics, " said

Dr. a Zilberberg, a University of Massachusetts researcher and lead

author of the study.

The Zilberberg study was based on a sample of more than 36 million

annual discharges from non-governmental U.S. hospitals. That data was

used to generate the study's national estimates.

The research is being published in the June issue of Emerging Infectious

Diseases, a CDC publication.

Using other scientists' estimates, the study concluded that 2.3 percent

of the cases in 2004 were fatal -- about 5,500 deaths. That was nearly

double the percentage of C-diff-related cases that ended in death in 2000.

Many of the people who died had other health problems. The study did not

try to determine if Clostridium difficile was the main cause of death in

each case, Zilberberg said.

But earlier research concluded the infection is the underlying cause of

thousands of deaths annually, and the problem is getting worse.

C-diff has become an acute health concern in Canada, where it was blamed

for 260 deaths at seven Ontario hospitals recently, and 2,000 deaths in

Quebec since 2002.

The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology

is currently working with U.S. hospitals to study prevalence of the

infection and what infection control measures seem to work best.

" This is not a time for alarm, but more a time for educating health

professionals to understand this particular pathogen, " said Kathy Warye,

chief executive of the Washington, D.C.-based association.

___

The CDC publication: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/index.htm

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