What kind of infection can you get from C diff?
Clostridium difficile (C. diff) is a type of bacteria that can cause colitis, a serious inflammation of the colon. Infections from C. diff often start after you’ve been taking antibiotics.
What can you use to prevent the spread of C diff?
Use chlorine bleach if the items can be safely washed with it. Wash your hands with soap and water after you handle the dirty laundry. It’s OK to take clothes to a dry cleaner that were worn by a patient infected with C. diff.
When do you take antibiotics do you get C diff?
That’s because antibiotics that fight bacterial infections by killing bad germs can also get rid of the good germs that protect the body against harmful infections, like C. diff infection. If you take antibiotics for more than a week, you could be even more at risk.
What does C diff stand for in medical terms?
C. diff (sometimes mistakenly shortened to “c dif” or “cdif”) is the proper shortened version of Clostridium difficile [klo–strid–ee–um dif–uh–seel] ( C. difficile ), which is a type of bacteria that causes inflammation and infection of the colon, known as colitis. C. diff is also a shortened way of referring to the infectious colitis itself.
What are the symptoms of Clostridium difficile in humans?
Clostridium difficile (klos-TRID-e-um dif-uh-SEEL), also known as Clostridioides difficile and often referred to as C. difficile or C. diff, is a bacterium that can cause symptoms ranging from diarrhea to life-threatening inflammation of the colon.
What happens when you take an antibiotic for C difficile?
When you take an antibiotic to treat an infection, these drugs tend to destroy some of the normal, helpful bacteria in addition to the bacteria causing the infection. Without enough healthy bacteria to keep it in check, C. difficile can quickly grow out of control.
