Clostridium Difficile Infection (CDI) for Healthcare Professionals

CDI is defined as a case of diarrhea or toxic megacolon without other known etiology that meets 1or more of the following criteria:

• the stool sample yields a positive result of a laboratory assay for C. difficile toxin A and/or B, or a toxin-producing C. difficile organism is detected in the stool sample by culture or other means;
• pseudomembranous colitis is seen on endoscopic examination or surgery; and
• pseudomembranous colitis is seen on histopathological examination.

C. difficile now rivals methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) as the most common organism to cause healthcare-associated infections in the United States.

CDI is associated with increased lengths of hospital stay, morbidity, and mortality among adult patients and costs $17.6 million to $51.5 million each day.

The IDPH and healthcare professionals across Iowa plan to work together to prevent or reduce CDI in Iowa hospitals. This partnership will guide hospitals in steps to prevent or reduce CDI in their patients.

Resource Manual

• Iowa CDI Prevention Collaborative Resource Manual  

Resources

• CDC CDI Took Kit  
• A Compendium of Strategies to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections in Acute Care Hospitals  
• CDI Infection Control Today  
• IHI Reducing HAIs  
• Infectious Disease Society of American Guidelines  
• Clostridium difficile-Associated Diarrhea and Colitis: Clinical Practice Guidelines by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology (SHEA) and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA)" Update in Progress  
• NHSN C diff Module    
• Management of Multi Drug Resistant Infections    
• Management of Multi Drug Resistant Infections    

Articles Related to CDI

• Clostridium difficile-Associated Disease in a Small Rural Hospital    
• Infection Control Policies and Practices Policies and Practices for Iowa Long-Term    
• An Outbreak of Severe Clostridium difficile-Associated Disease Possibly Related to Inappropriate Antimicrobial Therapy for Community-Acquired Pneumonia    
• Clostridium difficile Infection in Patients Discharged from US Short-stay Hospitals, 1996-2003    
• Iowa CDI Prevention Collaborative Resource Manual  

For more information on HAI's:

• Call (515) 242-5935, or
• 1 (800) 362-2736, or
• Use the "Contact Us" page to submit questions online.