Spokespersons
Tom Frieden, MD, MPH expanded
"C. difficile infections cause immense suffering and death for thousands of Americans each year. These infections can be prevented by improving antibiotic prescribing and by improving infection control in the healthcare system. CDC hopes to ramp up prevention of this deadly infection by supporting State Antibiotic Resistance Prevention Programs in all 50 states."
Tom Frieden, MD, MPH - Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Clostridium difficile caused almost half a million infections among patients in the United States in a single year, according to a new CDC study. C. difficile causes inflammation of the colon and deadly diarrhea.
CDC’s new study of data from 2011 found that:
- C. difficile infections cause immense suffering and death for thousands of Americans each year.
- An estimated 15,000 deaths are directly attributable to C. difficile infections, making it a substantial cause of infectious disease death in the United States.
- Risk of C. difficile infection and death increases with age. Thousands of C. difficile infections develop among residents of U.S. nursing homes each year, and a majority of the deaths associated with C. difficile occur among Americans 65 or older.
Previous studies indicate that C. difficile has become the most common pathogen identified as the cause of healthcare-associated infections in U.S. hospitals and costs up to $4.8 billion each year in excess healthcare costs for acute care facilities alone. Taking antibiotics is the most important risk factor for developing C. difficile infections. These devastating infections can be avoided by improving antibiotic prescribing and infection control across our healthcare system. Unnecessary antibiotic use in patients at one facility can cause spread of C. difficile in another facility when patients transfer. To help hospitals develop antibiotic prescribing improvement programs (also called “antibiotic stewardship” programs), CDC has developed several tools, including a list of Core Elements of Hospital Antibiotic Stewardship Programs and anaccompanying checklist.
Over the next five years, CDC’s efforts to combat C. difficile infections and antibiotic resistance under the National Strategy to Combat Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria (CARB) will enhance national capabilities for antibiotic stewardship, outbreak surveillance, and antibiotic resistance prevention. These efforts hold the potential to cut the incidence of C. difficile infections in half.
- Press Release: Nearly half a million Americans suffered from Clostridium difficile infections in a single year
- Burden of Clostridium difficile Infection in the United States
- Infographic: Deadly Diarrhea: C. Difficile Causes Immense Suffering, Death
- Tips from a C. diff survivor
- CDC Clostridium Difficile Infection Website
- Patient Safety: What You Can Do to Be a Safe Patient
- Biggest AR Threats (Clostridium difficile)
- National Strategy to Combat Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria
- Antibiotic Resistance Solutions Initiative
- Vital Signs: Improving Antibiotic Use Among Hospitalized Patients
- MMWR - Vital Signs: Improving Antibiotic Use Among Hospitalized Patients
- Vital Signs Technical Appendix: Estimating the Potential Reductions in Clostridium difficile Infection (CDI) among Patients when Antibiotic Use is Improved
- Vital Signs Stopping C. difficile Infections
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