Clostridioidesum difficile infection, or C. diff, is a serious bacterial infection that often causes diarrhea and severe stomach pain. It's most common in older people or people with weakened immune systems.
Doctors treat C. diff with antibiotics, but there are other treatments, too. C. diff can recur, but there are ways you can reduce your risk of it coming back.
C. difficile, or C. diff, is a bacteria that causes problems in the digestive system. This germ causes inflammation in the colon (colitis), leading to diarrhea and other symptoms.
C. diff infections are most common in people who took antibiotics for another infection.
About 500,000 C. diff infections happen in the U.S. each year.
C. diff can also recur despite a good first response to the anti-C. diff therapy.
C. diff returns in about one in six people, usually within the two to eight weeks after stopping anti-C. diff therapy. But it can take as long as three months to come back.
C. diff bacteria gets into the digestive tract through contact with food or surfaces contaminated with C. diff spores.
In most people, our gut's protective microbes keep C.diff from causing any problems.
But antibiotics may harm the good protective microbes that allow the body to fight off C.diff. This can lead to the bacteria becoming active in the gut, which then causes symptoms.
C. diff spores are all around us, but they're more common in hospitals and nursing homes.
Older people and people with existing health problems are more likely to get a C. diff infection.
C. diff is also contagious. You can get it if you're around someone who has it.
Risk factors of C. diff include:
Without treatment, C. diff can cause severe problems or even death.
Complications include:
To lower your risk of C. diff, only take antibiotics as prescribed by your doctor. Don't stop taking antibiotics early or for longer than your doctor says.
If you're taking care of someone with C. diff, you can take steps to reduce your risk of infection by:
Symptoms of C. diff tend to begin a few days after you start taking antibiotics. But they can also appear after you stop taking them.
Common C. diff symptoms include:
Many people who take antibiotics often have mild diarrhea or stomach upset. But if the diarrhea or pain is severe or lasts a few days, see a doctor right away.
Back to top.To help diagnose C. diff, your doctor will ask you about your history and symptoms.
They'll likely ask for a stool (poop) sample to send for lab testing. A stool test is one of the most common ways to diagnose C. diff.
Back to top.The goal of treating C. diff is to kill the bacteria that causes the infection.
To get rid of your infection, your doctor will prescribe one of the antibiotics active against C. diff such as:
You'll take this medicine for 10 days or longer. Your doctor may tell you to stop taking other antibiotics at the same time.
If you have recurrent episodes of C. diff, you may need a different antibiotic or longer course of treatment.
In addition to antibiotics, there are FDA-approved therapies to prevent repeat episodes of C. diff.
These include:
FMT, or whole stool microbiota transplantation, is an experimental procedure doctors may also consider for certain recurrent C. diff cases.
FMT involves transferring specially prepared stool from a healthy donor into the intestine of a person with C. diff infection. These healthy gut bacteria from the donor can increase protection against further episodes of C. diff.
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