U.S. flag An official website of the United States government.
Official websites use .gov

A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS

A lock ( ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

i

Making Healthcare Safer: Stopping C. difficile Infections: CDC Vital Signs: March 6, 2012

Public Domain
File Language:
English


Details

  • Alternative Title:
    Stopping C. difficile infections
  • Corporate Authors:
    National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (U.S.). Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion.
  • Description:
    People getting medical care can catch serious infections called health care-associated infections (HAIs). While most types of HAIs are declining, one -- caused by the germ C. difficile -- remains at historically high levels. C. difficile causes diarrhea linked to 14,000 American deaths each year. Those most at risk are people, especially older adults, who take antibiotics and also get medical care. When a person takes antibiotics, good germs that protect against infection are destroyed for several months. During this time, patients can get sick from C. difficile picked up from contaminated surfaces or spread from a health care provider's hands. About 25% of C. difficile infections first show symptoms in hospital patients; 75% first show in nursing home patients or in people recently cared for in doctors' offices and clinics. C. difficile infections cost at least $1 billion in extra health care costs annually.

    Fact sheet released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Office of Surveillance, Epidemiology and Laboratory Services (OSELS) in association with: Vital signs: Preventing Clostridium difficile infections: MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report ; v. 61, early release, March 6, 2012, p. 1-6.

  • Subjects:
  • Series:
    Vital Signs
  • Document Type:
    Text
  • Genre:
    Popular Works
  • Pages in Document:
    4 numbered pages
  • Collection(s):
  • Main Document Checksum:
    urn:sha-512:f39a8e4de73991ab9849bd27c91ef8551b099f2136785f0578f1ddda4fd9a1aa3753bba05e2da048d13d7de22b289392c2e5fe55df0027ebb936897afcaa3f53
  • Download URL:
  • File Type:
    Filetype[PDF - 1.81 MB ]
PREVIOUS
File Language:
English
ON THIS PAGE
Details
CDC STACKS serves as an archival repository of CDC-published products including scientific findings, journal articles, guidelines, recommendations, or other public health information authored or co-authored by CDC or funded partners.

As a repository, CDC STACKS retains documents in their original published format to ensure public access to scientific information.
BACK TO TOP