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

difficile infection, as the individual with Clostridium infection liberates enormous spores in the hospital environment, which persist in the dormant stage till they procure another individual. It is evident that standard disinfectants are not sufficient to combat infectious agents, thereby enhancing the diffusion of Cl. difficile. It is therefore essential to isolate the patient and perform necessary actions to prevent further spread to other individuals present in the hospital. It is essential to adopt the antibiotic for treatment to prevent CDAD (Clostridium difficile associated diarrhoea).

The present article highlights the proof-based directives to minimize the spread of Cl. difficile, encompassing well-timed diagnosis or CDAD, close watch of cases with CDAD, education to the staff, hygiene, clothes, highly effective sterilization process for medical equipments, cleaning the environment, efficient antibiotic stewardship. Background Numerous guidelines have been made available to minimize the risk of such infections. It is observed that control measures play an imperative role in controlling nosocomial infections. . may persevere in the environment for months to years and display enormous resistance for various disinfectants (Barbut, 1993; Johnson, 1990; Teare, 1998).

Clinical Presentation & Diagnosis Chief virulence factors encompass Enterotoxin A and Cytotoxin B of Clostridium difficile (Kuijper, 2006). Most of the strains of Cl. difficile generate these toxins, causing diarrhoea or pseudo-membranous colitis or may result in toxic megacolon and bowel perforation in some patients (Miller, 2002). The mortality rate is 25-30% (Pepin, 2005). Clostridium difficile toxins are assessed with the help of cytotoxicity assay or by ELISA, or culture technique under anaerobic conditions or PCR based assays through stool examination (Van Den Berg, 2007).

Materials and Methods Data was procured from PubMed with the search terms as: 'difficile', 'nosocomial', 'outbreak', 'transmission', 'control', 'environment' and 'prevention'. Data was then evaluated to formulate the guidelines for the prevention of Clostridium difficile. Findings In majority of the cases it is observed that spread of spores and hence the pathogen occurs by means of "contact" as the staff serves as a carrier of spores and hence the spores travel from patient-to-patient along with the staff, or they infect individuals through the contaminated environment (Vonberg, 2008).

Discussion Restricted use of antibiotics particularly cephalosporin, group of antibiotics and appropriate formulation of methodologies to avert medical device-related contamination or any kind of cross-infection paves the way for the prevention of nosocomial spread of resistant species of microorganisms especially Clostridium difficile. It is essential to isolate the patient with infection from resistant microorganisms. Preemptive segregation of all cases