Anyone know about C.DIFF?

Clostridium difficile a hospital superbug. I have had it. Is it true that antibiotics can help cause getting it (but not just random people, mainly if your ill old or young)?? I am taking antibiotics called Trimethoprim which i just read on a site is one of the antibiotics that can cause c.diff. And cause i have already had cdiff does it mean i am more likely to get it again when i got into hosp than say my sister who is healthy and isnt taken anything. I no being clean helps but i just want to no if i am at a bigger risk? I am in the hosp on tuesday.

Anyone know about C.DIFF?
Normal, healthy human beings are not sterile. When we are born, we start to develop flora, bacteria that live in our guts and other places like on our skin. We get this from our mothers, the nursing staff and other people we are exposed to. The bacteria help us with digestion, aidin the development of our immune system and protect us from other micro-organisms in a number of ways, e.g. producing substances that would kill them and competing against them for food.





That's where Clostridium difficile comes in. Sort of like the supervillain running loose whe he thinks the hero is dead. Broad spectrum antibiotics kill out a wide range of bacteria including the normal protective flora when given by mouth. Flora gone, Clostridium starts to multiply, and doesn't stop until you have something called pseudo-membranous colitis (PMC), a severe infection of the colon.





Now when the doctors find out you have PMC, they stop the antibiotic right away, and give you Metronidazole, or another antibiotic known to kill clostridia species. After this, your normal flora grows back, and everything is like it was before.





The chance of you getting PMC is about the same as before, but higher than your sister while you are on the antibiotic and she isn't. PMC doesn't happen all the time, you were just unfortunate on the last occasion so I hope everything goes fine so you get better and go home soon. A hospital is a bad place to catch an infection.





Your ileostomy is another important risk factor for any GI infection, but I hope they can take it out soon. When did you first have this episode of colitis?
Reply:Why do you still have colitis following ileostomy? You should have no colon so no colitis.


Have you had the ileo-anal pouch or the trad ileo?
Reply:I hadn't heard that C.diff infections can be CAUSED by any antibiotic... just that they are impervious to almost all antibiotics except for a very small number.





you don't reference your sources... are you SURE you mean CAUSED?
Reply:C. diff is an unfortunate complication of antibiotic therapy. And yes, you can get it again. You don't have to be in a hospital in order to get it - you just have to be prescribed antibiotics again. Adding yogurt to your diet while taking any antibiotics (don't take with the pill though) will help prevent this from occurring. Anyone can be at risk if they are on antibiotics.