StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Preventing the Spread of Clostridium Difficile through Systems Change - Research Proposal Example

Cite this document
Summary
The paper "Preventing the Spread of Clostridium Difficile through Systems Change" highlights that C. difficile accounts for 20% -30% of cases of antibiotic-associated diarrhea and is the most commonly recognized cause of infectious diarrhea in healthcare facilities…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER95.5% of users find it useful
Preventing the Spread of Clostridium Difficile through Systems Change
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Preventing the Spread of Clostridium Difficile through Systems Change"

Hand washing (soap washing and water), contact precaution and meticulous environmental cleaning with an EPA-registered disinfectant are productive in preventing the spread of the organism (McFarland et al. 2004). Hand hygiene combined with other measures such as sanitizing hospital units, judicious antibiotic use can improve infection rates.

Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) a gram-positive anaerobic bacillus that is closely related to the one that causes tetanus and butalism is associated with a gastrointestinal infection, diarrhea and pseudomembranous colitis. C. difficile generally afflicts older hospitalized patients treated with antibiotic drugs. It has two forms, an active, form that is virulent and infectious, and an inactive form that is called a spore is not infectious. Spores can change into the active, infectious form inside the host body. Active forms do not survive for a longer period in the environment contrary to the inactive spores which can survive in the environment for a prolonged period.

C. difficile accounts for 20% -30% of cases of antibiotic-associated diarrhea and is the most commonly recognized cause of infectious diarrhea in healthcare facilities (Bartlett 2002). Annually the excess hospital costs due to its infection in the US are estimated to be $3.2 billion for the years 2000–2002 (O’Brien et al. 2007). Between 2002 and 2006 hospital outbreaks were severe (Loo et al. 2005) and recurrent (Pepin et al. 2005). More than 28,000 deaths occur every year in the US (Weis, 2010) with an overall mortality of 10-15%. Its infection has been on rising in the US and elsewhere. The recent emergence and spread of a virulent strain of C. difficile which is commonly known as NAP1/B1/027 produce more potent toxin and recurrent infections were first identified in Quebec, Canada in late 2002 and have since been found in most states in the U.S. Realizing the severity and threat to patients, hospitals and other healthcare facilities the control and prevention of the disease is really challenging, steps have been taken to stop the spread of C. difficile, but more needs to be done.

Clostridium difficile associated disease (CDAD) is a major cause of healthcare-associated infection-causing morbidity and mortality. The spores are found in hospitals, and medical care facilities, located on the floors, furniture, linens, toilet seats, telephones, shared instrumentation and healthcare workers' hands and accessories. According to McFarland et al. (1989), environment samples showed 29% positive for C. difficile from rooms occupied by asymptomatic patients and 49% in rooms having patients with CDAD. Fawley and Wilcox (2001) showed a significant incidence of C. difficile due to environmental factors.

Lately C. difficile has become more toxic and acquired more resistance to drugs besides it is no longer restricted to patients in hospitals or nursing homes as sizable infections are reported from outside of these facilities. The efficacy of antiseptic hand wash or hand-rub preparations against C. difficile has become a great concern as none of the agents (including alcohols, chlorhexidine, PCMX, and triclosan) is effective against virulent strain. Washing hands with soap and water may help to physically remove spores from the surface, however, a rigorous regimen of hand hygiene is required. Hand washing (soap washing and water), contact precaution and meticulous environmental cleaning with an EPA-registered disinfectant are effective in preventing the spread of the organism (McFarland et al. 1989).

In places with high endemic C.difficile infection rates or in an outbreak setting, the use of dilute solutions of 5.25-6.15% sodium hypochlorite for routine disinfection (Category II) is recommended. Glutaraldehyde, OPA and peracetic acid have been shown to be effective in killing spores. The strategic goals that are generally agreed by the experts of prevention and control of all infectious diseases are: to detect, report, and prevent transmission of infectious organisms, and the interventions that include aggressive detection, isolation of patients, appropriate hand hygiene, thorough disinfection of the environment and personal equipment.

Even though, every aspect of the mentioned intervention may seem self-evident, the key to preventing transmission practice of all components along with the judicious prescription of antibiotics to mitigate the spread of infection. Better compliance and audit to redesign the process is showing results in controlling the disease, albeit, significant data are not available globally of radical change. It is prudent to suggest that hand hygiene exceeds current practice in most health care settings with judicious prescription of antibiotics to ward of any endemic. The drugs of choice are the same old ones: metronidazole and vancomycin.

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Preventing the spread of Clostridium difficile through Systems Change: Research Proposal”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/other/1410034-preventing-the-spread-of-clostridium-difficile
(Preventing the Spread of Clostridium Difficile through Systems Change: Research Proposal)
https://studentshare.org/other/1410034-preventing-the-spread-of-clostridium-difficile.
“Preventing the Spread of Clostridium Difficile through Systems Change: Research Proposal”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/other/1410034-preventing-the-spread-of-clostridium-difficile.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Preventing the Spread of Clostridium Difficile through Systems Change

Preventing the spread of clostridium difficilel (C.diff) through Systems Change

Preventing the Spread of Clostridium Difficile through Systems Change" Abstract Clostridium difficile disease (CDD), is accepted as the major infectious diarrhoea developed in cases after hospitalization across the world.... the spread of clostridium infection and its prevention is the major concern to check amplification of nosocomial infections, as most of the out breaks are accredited to Cl.... Clinical Presentation & Diagnosis Chief virulence factors encompass Enterotoxin A and Cytotoxin B of clostridium difficile (Kuijper, 2006)....
5 Pages (1250 words) Dissertation

Preventing the Spread of Clostridium Difficile by Improving Hand Hygiene Compliance

The paper "preventing the spread of clostridium difficile by Improving Hand Hygiene Compliance" states that It is equally important to practice isolation precautions and keep the surroundings free.... To prevent the spread of C.... difficile from being transferred from one patient to another, several studies revealed that the spread of C.... A type of pathogenic bacteria, clostridium difficile (C.... difficile could directly infect other patients through body contact....
2 Pages (500 words) Dissertation

Preventing the Spread of Clostridium Difficile

The essay "preventing the spread of clostridium difficile" talks about the strategic goals that are generally agreed by the experts of prevention and control of all infectious diseases including detecting, reporting, and preventing the transmission of infectious organisms, and the interventions that include dynamic awareness, isolation of patients, proper hand hygiene, thorough disinfection of the environment and personal equipment.... This paper talks about the systematic change in hand hygiene at the point of care to prevent the spread of clostridium - a gram-positive anaerobic bacillus related to the microbes causing tetanus and brutalism associated with gastrointestinal infection, diarrhea, and pseudo membranous colitis....
11 Pages (2750 words) Essay

Changes in the Prevalence of Clostridium Difficile Infection in the United Kingdom

The paper "Changes in the Prevalence of clostridium difficile Infection in the United Kingdom" highlights that generally, CDI is a gastrointestinal infection that causes diarrhea, which, if not managed, can lead to serious health problems, or even death.... clostridium difficile is a resilient Gram-positive, anaerobic, toxin-producing bacillus that normally inhabits the gut of infants, and it is not as common in adults.... It was named 'difficile' because of the difficulty in culturing the bacterium on conventional media....
16 Pages (4000 words) Essay

Infection Prevention and Control in Hospitals

The paper 'Infection Prevention and Control in Hospitals' discuss the reasons why MRSA and clostridium difficile have emerged as major causes of hospital-acquired infections.... MRSA and clostridium difficile have become the bane of healthcare facilities in the UK, as hospitals pour more resources into halting their spread.... All this is important, given that MRSA and clostridium difficile have been responsible for several deaths (Gupta 2006) that were preventable....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay

Health Care Associated Infections and UK Screening Policy

These infections normally spread within hospitals or healthcare settings.... There are a number of micro organisms that may lead to.... ... ... An estimate reveals that approximately 9 percent of patients under observation carry an HCAI at any one time and leads to no less than 300,000 HCAIs each year in the UK (Great Britain, 2004)....
14 Pages (3500 words) Essay

Factors Predisposing to Clostridium Difficile Infection

Diarrhea is commonly associated with the use of antibiotics that are capable of killing/ arresting growth of infection causing organism but in some cases this association could be related with the proliferation and colonization of opportunistic pathogen clostridium difficile.... athogenic clostridium difficile produces exotoxins- A and B.... clostridium difficile is a potent pathogen that successfully establishes infection because of its immense ability to produce toxins thereby paving the way for C....
12 Pages (3000 words) Essay

Clostridium Difficle Infection

The patient and their family members need empathy and education about the nature and course of the disease and this can be delivered only through appropriate communication skills so that neither the informant nor the recipient is at stress.... The pathology results of stool specimen revealed clostridium difficle infection.... clostridium difficle infection is a commonly associated infection in many health care settings in various countries including Scotland (Health Protection Scotland, 2009)....
17 Pages (4250 words) Term Paper
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us