Occupational Contraction of Clostridium Difficile (C. diff.)

February 2017

Healthcare workers who are taking antibiotics are at an increased risk of contracting Clostridium Difficile (C. diff) in the healthcare setting.

According to Curtis Donskey, MD, Infectious Disease Physician at Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, healthcare employees are at increased risk of C. diff infection even after receiving only short courses of relatively narrow-spectrum antibiotics.

As a result, Dr. Donskey recommends that healthcare facilities and institutions should regularly inform their employees about the risk of contracting C. diff if they are taking antibiotics.

According to studies, alcohol-based hand sanitizers are largely ineffective against C. diff spores. Traditional hand washing with soap and water works better than hand sanitizer, but it is not sufficiently effective in killing C. diff.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) currently recommends that healthcare workers wear gloves and gowns when treating patients with C. difficile, even during short visits.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, hospital and other healthcare facility administrators should:

Support better testing practices, tracking, and reporting of C. diff infections and prevention efforts;
Ensure policies for rapid detection and isolation of patients with C. difficile are in place and followed;
Assess facility cleaning to be sure it is performed thoroughly, and augment this as needed using an Environmental Protection Agency-approved, spore-killing disinfectant in rooms where C. difficile patients are treated;
Notify other healthcare facilities about infectious diseases when patients transfer, especially between hospitals and nursing homes.
Participate in a regional C. difficile prevention effort.