MicrobeWorld

New Issues in the Control of C. difficile - ICAAC 09

Clostridium difficile bacteria are a common cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhea, especially in hospital settings.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, each year in the United States C. difficile is responsible for tens of thousands of cases of diarrhea and at least 5,000 deaths.  New research on how this infection is transmitted suggest that symptomatic patients can aerosolize infective spores and that these spores can be found on surfaces throughout  patients’ hospital room and not just on the patients themselves.  Participants will present this research as well as discuss the impact of these findings on future control efforts against this infection.

• Curtis Donskey, VA Med. Ctr., Cleveland, OH, United States
  
• John Boyce, Hospital of Saint Raphael, New Haven, CT, United States
  
• Dubert M. Guerrero, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, United States