How can I prevent myself from getting C. difficile ?
A majority of the preventative measures rely on healthcare workers to perform regular surveillance for C. difficile spores and ensure that the environment is cleaned and disinfected (5). This goes hand-in-hand with regular hand hygiene upon exposure to potentially positive patients (5). Physicians also have a responsibility to detect C. difficile in potentially infected individuals early, isolate and prevent contact with affected individuals, and act to reduce the unnecessary use of antibiotics through antibiotic stewardship (5).
Hand-Washing and Hygiene
Handwashing is an effective way to prevent the spread of C. difficile. Although patients themselves play a key role in infection transmission (35), the hospital setting presents a situation of limited mobility and a perception of cleanliness, leading to reduced hand hygiene in hospitals (36). Washing hands after using the bathroom and before eating or food preparation for at least 20 seconds is ideal (37, 38). Alcohol-based hand rubs not as effective against C. difficile spores (37).
Contact Precautions
Patients who are hospitalized with C. difficile are placed on contact precautions by their physician (5, 39). This means that anyone who enters the patient’s room must wear a clean gown over their clothes, clean gloves, and wash their hands before/after entering a room (39). These measures help prevent the spread of spores to others in the hospital, and to the people visiting the patient.
References
5. McDonald LC, Gerding DN, Johnson S, Bakken JS, Carroll KC, Coffin SE, et al. Clinical Practice Guidelines for Clostridium difficile Infection in Adults and Children: 2017 Update by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA). Clin Infect Dis. 2018;66(7):e1-e48.
35. Landers T, Abusalem S, Coty MB, Bingham J. Patient-centered hand hygiene: the next step in infection prevention. Am J Infect Control. 2012;40(4 Suppl 1):S11-7.
36. Barker A, Sethi A, Shulkin E, Caniza R, Zerbel S, Safdar N. Patients' hand hygiene at home predicts their hand hygiene practices in the hospital. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2014;35(5):585-8.
37. Dubberke ER, Carling P, Carrico R, Donskey CJ, Loo VG, McDonald LC, et al. Strategies to prevent Clostridium difficile infections in acute care hospitals: 2014 update. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2014;35 Suppl 2:S48-65.
38. Barker AK, Zellmer C, Tischendorf J, Duster M, Valentine S, Wright MO, et al. On the hands of patients with Clostridium difficile: A study of spore prevalence and the effect of hand hygiene on C difficile removal. Am J Infect Control. 2017;45(10):1154-6.
39. Siegel J. Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee 2007 Guideline for isolation precautions: preventing transmission of infectious agents in healthcare settings. http://www cdc gov/ncidod/dhqp/gl_isolation html. 2007.