Severe infections cause more damage to the lining of your gut.
While your colon takes longer to recover, you’re more likely to experience ongoing symptoms and repeat infections.
Anyone can get sick fromC.
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diff, an infectious bacterium that lives in the intestines.C.
Standard antibiotic treatment clears most infections.
However, sometimes additional treatments are needed.
Beyond physical health problems, other consequences ofC.
diffinfection are mental health problems, financial burdens, and disruptions in working life.
diffinfections (CDI) reported each year.
Risk Factors
The major risk factors for developingC.
diffinfection include:
Transmission
C. diffis easily spread from person to person.
It can also be picked up by touching contaminated surfaces.
It is a common hospital-acquired infection (HAI).
Being in a healthcare facility like a hospital or nursing home raises your risk of aC.
How Long It Take to Recover?
Most people recover fromC.
diffinfection during the first course of treatment, while others may require additional medical interventions.
Generally, the long-term effects ofC.
diffinfection can be managed with support from your medical team.
Life After C. Diff
Most of the time, people will developC.
diffsymptoms after taking antibiotics for a different infection.
Antibiotics, which are medications to kill infectious bacteria, also sometimes kill the normal,healthy gut bacteria.
The environment in the intestines gets out of balance and bad bacteria likeC.
diffare able to increase.
Physical Issues
Even after recovery from CDI, some people continue to experience physical problems.
Long-term problems after CDI include persistent symptoms, such asirritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms, andpoor sleep.
CDI can also result in significant health complications.
People with recurrent infections are at higher risk of complications.
Common complications include:
TheC.
diffbacteria can produce toxins that irritate the digestive system and cause diarrhea.
Some people have up to 15 episodes of diarrhea each day.
The frequent watery diarrhea can lead to dehydration and even kidney damage.
Preventing dehydration and replacing lostelectrolytesare important parts of CDI management.
Some people find thataltering their dietcan help with some of the diarrhea symptoms of CDI.
difftoxins can irritate the lower part of the intestines, causing colitis.
The colon then swells and becomes inflamed.
People with these infections express anger about developing an infection as a result of medical treatment for another condition.
Others are angry that they were exposed to this infection in a healthcare setting.
diffinfections returning are very common, as well.
According to one study, most people report a fear of recurrence.
People also fear that a relapse will be triggered by antibiotics they will need in the future.
Some people report a fear of infecting others.
diffinfections cost $6.3 billion per year in the U.S.
There are several different reasons that CDI causes such significantmedical expenses.
These may add unexpected costs even after your hospital stay.
Difficulty Working
Having CDI can take a toll on your professional life and impact work activities.
Around half of the people with CDI say they had to stop working while they were infected.
The lack of income while not working adds to the financial burden of CDI as well.
diffinfection will experience a repeat infection.
This usually occurs within four to eight weeks after the end of treatment.
The recurrence can be a return of the originalC.
diffgerms, or a person can be exposed to differentC.
People with weakened immune systems are particularly at risk for getting sick from exposure to theC.
diffbacterium, even if they have already recovered from a previous infection.
This happens due toantibiotic resistancea lack of effectiveness in the antibiotics being used to treat CDI.
For some people with recurrent CDI,fecal microbiota transplantmay be recommended.
Prevention
Preventing reexposure to theC.
diffbacterial spores is important to lower the risk of recurrence.
diffgerms on your body.
diffhistory with your healthcare team.
Your provider may make adjustments to the medications you are prescribed.
Most importantly, avoid taking unnecessary antibiotics after recovering fromC.
Unfortunately,hand sanitizersdo not effectively kill theC.
diffbacteria, so washing with soap and water is the best way to prevent spreading this germ.
Improving Quality of Life
Having infectious diarrhea fromC.
diffcan have a profound effect on your quality of life.
CDI can also increase pain, anxiety, and depression.
diffrecurrence lead to physical and psychological quality-of-life issues.
The impacts of CDI last long beyond the actual infection for some patients.
Summary
Clostridioides difficile (C. diff)infection has effective treatments and is potentially curable.
When recovering from CDI, you may encounter long-term health problems.
These can include physical, psychological, and professional problems in addition to financial burdens.
Maintaining good hygiene can help prevent recurrence.
However, medical treatment is needed in some cases.
If you have long-term problems afterC.
diff, find a healthcare provider who can address them.
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