In a new study published online in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, nearly half of American hospitals aren’t taking key steps to prevent Clostridium difficile, an infection that kills nearly 30,000 people annually and sickens hundreds of thousands more – despite strong evidence that such steps work.
While nearly all of the 398 hospitals studied in the paper use a variety of measures to protect their patients from Clostridium difficile infections, 48 percent haven’t adopted strict limits on the use of antibiotics and other drugs that can allow the dangerous bug to flourish, the researchers report.
The researchers also found a widespread lack of written policies to test patients for C. diff infection when they developed diarrhea while taking antibiotics. Nearly three-quarters of hospitals didn’t have such policies, though diarrhea is a key symptom of C. diff — and can lead to dangerous complications and death in vulnerable hospitalized patients. Controlling diarrhea for patients with C. diff is important because C. diff can form spores that can persist in the hospital environment- linens, carpets, floors- for weeks. Reducing diarrhea helps control the spread of the spores.
Banatrol Plus helps control C. diff infection two ways: 1) the soluble fiber in Banatrol is clinically proven to reduce the severity and time patients experience diarrhea without stopping or slowing gut motility and 2) Bimuno prebiotic provides a food source that feeds only the beneficial bacteria in the person’s gut, thus restoring the balance of the individual’s flora and is safe for all patients.