Isolation In ICU

Clostridium difficile associated disease will resolve when the patient discontinues taking the antibiotics to which he/she has been previously exposed (Nipa, 2010). Administration of a different antibiotic is used to treat the infection (Grossman, 2010). The infection can usually be treated with an appropriate course of about 10 days of antibiotics including metronidazole or vancomycin administered orally (Nipa, 2010). On occasion intravenous vancomycin may be necessary (Gould, 2010). The nurse should ensure patients are not only taking the newly prescribed antibiotic, but also responding to the treatment by showing a decrease in symptoms. Symptoms can recur despite antibiotic therapy, close monitoring is essential. In order to avoid risk of further complications, nursing interventions would include careful assessment of white blood cell count, temperature, and hydration status; meticulous skin care and assistance with bowel elimination given the loose frequent stools; and management of abdominal discomfort (Grossman, 2010).

The patient is positive for C. Diff, this is causing her to have diarrhea. The diarrhea is causing the patient to be dehydrated because she isn’t retaining any water. This is causing her kidneys to not function properly.

Clostridium difficile is a Gram-positive, spore-forming, rod-shaped bacillus that is renowned for being the leading cause of hospital-acquired diarrhea in adult patients. C. difficile is present as normal intestinal flora within 3% to 5% of healthy people2, while its spores are ubiquitous in the environment, especially in hospital settings. It grows at an optimal temperature and pH of 37ºC and 6.5–7.5 respectively.1 It is an obligate anaerobic as it thrives in the absence of oxygen. It is highly motile with the presence of peritrichous flagella, which are evenly spread out along its surface. As briefly mentioned above, this evolving pathogen produces endospores. The bacterium produces dormant spores, which are extremely hardy and resistant to antibiotics, the host’s innate immune system, and once shed into the environment through the host’s feces, they are resistant to unfavorable aerobic conditions3 as well as several types of bleach-free disinfectants, which are commonly used in hospitals.3 The spores will germinate under the favorable conditions of the intestinal tract, resulting in the multiplication of vegetative cells, colonizing in the gastrointestinal tract. The vegetative cells release two powerful exotoxins upon adherence to the epithelial cells of the GI tract. Pathogenic strains of C. difficile produce two exotoxins: toxin A and toxin B. Toxin A is an enterotoxin that causes fluid excretion, resulting in fluid accumulation and watery diarrhea. Toxin B is a potent

Clostridium Difficile (C-Diff) is considered one of the most common infections a patient can acquire within their hospital stay. It is estimated that C-Diff is responsible for 337,000 infections and 14,000 deaths a year (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012). Working in the emergency department (ED), I have witness first hand how debilitating this gastrointestinal infection can be. Patients are admitted to the ED for having severe watery diarrhea, abdominal pain, and fever. Elderly patients are at increase risk for sepsis and dehydration related to recurrent infections. Appropriate management and education of C-Diff is optimal for patient survival and decrease contamination across lifespan.

Hospitalizations are another main cause of the spreading of the C-diff infection. It takes place in all healthcare facilities, due to the fact that a large number of hospitalized individuals are treated with antibiotics. In hospitals the spread of C-diff can be present on peoples hands, due to poor hand hygiene, bedrails, toilets, thermometers, sinks and even on

Clostridium difficile involves a gram-positive spore-forming bacterium, which is a normal element of the colon flora in people. The Clostridium difficile can cause antibiotic-associated diarrhea when the competing bacteria in the gut flora are all killed by antibiotic treatment. The Clostridium difficile infection is one of the serious healthcare-related infection and also a rising health care problem. In the early 1970s, the Clostridium difficile has been known to have the ability to cause pseudomembranous colitis. As stated, the infection is the most cause of nosocomial infectious diarrhea (Aktories & Wilkins, 2000). Individuals that are colonized with clostridium difficile serve as the reservoir for infection and this is by contaminating the environment with spores of such bacteria. This will lead to the spread of the organism on the health care worker’s hands or even through the use of medical equipment. In this paper, we are going to focus on the effective prevention strategies for clostridium difficile. What are the effective prevention strategies for clostridium difficile?

The healthcare professional can expect to encounter various conditions within their scope of experience. Clostridium difficile represents one of the most common and challenging nosocomial infections that can cause life-threatening complications such as hypervolemia, sepsis, pain, and peritonitis (Grossman and Mager 155). The recognition, diagnosis, treatment and inhibition of transmission of this bacterium are imperative in order to limit infection and prevent death.

C. difficile is a spore-forming and strict anaerobe gram-positive bacillus [4], capable of excreting pathogenic toxins, as discussed below [3]. This spore forming ability is a method of bacterial persistence within the human body. C. difficile is able to resist and survive a variable environment when various other microbes cannot. Three important factors affecting the risk of CDI include the use of antibiotics, length of hospital-environment exposure and age [1]. The use of broad range antibiotics affects the composition and lively-hood of normal

Clostridium difficile is a gram-positive bacterium which causes diarrhoea. It also known as antibiotic associated diarrhoea and also pseudomembranous colitis. The bacterium secretes large protein toxin that also causes toxic mega colon. Clostridium difficile is caused by when a person is given one of the following antibiotics: Cephalosporin, penicillin (particularly Ampicillin or Amoxicillin), Clindamycin and Fluoroquinolone. The antibiotic will remove the entire normal flora in the colon. The lack of normal flora will make the person vulnerable to infection especially to Clostridium difficile because Clostridium difficile produces hardy spores

Patients that come in with watery diarrhea are normally tested for Clostridium difficile. Watery diarrhea is the most common sign of an infection that is recurrent for about two to three times a day for mild to moderate infection and in addition to minor abdominal pain. Indications of a severe infection includes severe diarrhea occurring 10 to 15 times a day. More symptoms that a patient with a severe infection caused by Clostridium difficile might present are intolerable abdominal pain, fever, dehydration due to diarrhea, blood and pus in the stool, nausea, and elevated counts of white blood cells (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2013). However, people that are commonly at risk for infection of C. diff should be tested and those patients are ones that

The article “C. diff always linked to health care,” was written by H. LeWine (2012). The article describes how Clostridium difficile (C. diff) is transmitted because it produces spores that are found in all healthcare settings whether, hospital, nursing homes or doctor's offices. C. diff can cause cramping, diarrhea, fever, and nausea to transpire. Spores can live on your hands and surfaces. Oral-fecal contamination is a common route of infection. Wash your hands well after visiting the bathroom, alcohol based sanitizers will not kill the spores, the best prevention is using traditional methods of soap and water. Surfaces cleaned with non-alcohol based disinfectants. Spores may be difficult to remove from hands even with hand washing, faithfulness to glove use, and contact precautions should are highlighted for preventing C. diff transmission.

Clostridium difficile is a bacterium that is found in the human colonic flora that can cause diarrhea and more serious conditions, such as colitis. This occurs if the physiological bacterial flora is changed or damaged due to prolonged antibiotic use and if the concentration of C. difficile increases significantly. The prolonged antibiotic use enables C. difficile to multiply and produce large amounts of dangerous toxins. Therapy for those who suffer from this includes rehydration, immediate stop of the causative antibiotic (usually clindamycin or amoxicillin), and new antibiotics to reverse the symptoms such as vancomycin. C. difficile is easily transmitted within hospital settings because its spores are resistant to the commonly used alcohol

The CDC has recently proposed two levels of Isolation Guidelines for Hospitalized Patients: Standard and Transmission-Based Precautions.5,6 This new system replaces the previous disease-specific systems and has integrated universal precautions and body substance isolation. Standard Precautions states that blood; all patients’ body fluids (except sweat), secretions, and excretions; mucous membranes; and non intact skin be treated as potentially infectious. The components of Standard Precautions include: hand washing, wearing gloves, wearing mask, eye protection, face shield and gowns when appropriate, cleaning patient-care equipment, enforcing environmental control, cleaning linen, enforcing occupational health and blood borne pathogen protocols

Most of the public have heard of broad-spectrum drugs, especially in terms of antibiotic resistance, because they fight a wide range of bacteria but also kills normal flora in the gut (Haddox, 2013). The loss of this gut flora can lead to an abnormal growth of harmful bacteria such as clostridium difficile (C-Diff). The four “C” antibiotics that have a high risk for patient to develop C-diff are clindamycin, cephalosporins, coamoxiclav, and ciprofloxacin (Haddox, 2013). These antibiotics have the highest risk of leading to C-diff development, however all antibiotics increase a patient’s likelihood of a C-diff infection. This effect can last up to 12 weeks post antibiotic administration (Haddox, 2013).

The spores of C.difficile can survive in the environment (including health care environment) for a very long time serving as a source of transmission(Amit s 2,32).A study done in USA found that 82% of patients who had community acquired C.difficile had either a recent outpatient or inpatient health care exposure(Amit S