Category Archives: C Diff

C. difficile Prevention

CDIFFprevention

 

 

 

Prevention:

  • Hand-washing. Health care workers, visitors, and patients all should practice good hand hygiene (aka hand-washing) before and after care, before and after entering the patient’s room, before and after eating, before exiting a restroom, before and after treatments, after changing diapers, before and after handling food, after visiting shopping centers and visiting the gym. In the event of a C. diff. outbreak, using soap and warm water is proven effective in hand washing as studies have proven alcohol-based hand sanitizers are not effective destroying C. diff. spores.
  • Contact precautions. People who are hospitalized with C. diff. have a private room or share a room with someone who has the same illness. Hospital staff and visitors follow the infection control guidelines and wear disposable gloves and gowns while in the room, and removed before leaving the patient’s room.
  • Environmental cleaning. All high-touch non-porous surfaces should be carefully disinfected with a product that contains chlorine bleach and/or a product that has been EPA registered and has the C. diff. kill. The Clostridium difficile spores can survive routine cleaning products that don’t contain bleach.
  • * * * * * * Avoid unnecessary use of antibiotics. This matter can not be stressed enough worldwide. The Center of Disease Control and Prevention have issued an updated report in March 2014 regarding the use of Antibiotics and providing Physicians pertinent information with the limiting usage of Antibiotics for viruses. The reports have found that sometimes Antibiotics are prescribed to treat viral illnesses that aren’t helped by these drugs, and can lead to Antibiotic resistance and super-bugs. When symptoms linger/worsen and do not improve - please contact the Physician to report. If an Antibiotic is needed to treat the symptoms, the Physician/Healthcare professional will assess the symptoms and prescribe as indicated.

Holiday Greetings and Rememberance

We remember those who have passed from a Clostridium difficile infection and/or C. difficile involvement while fighting other diagnosis simultaneously. Statistics reveal that over 14,000 individuals die each year from Clostridium difficile or C. diff involvement.

We appreciate and stand along side the many organizations, healthcare professionals, and scientists researching and developing new treatments to combat this and many other bacterial infections. And through continued education and advocating for C. diff. prevention, treatments, and environmental safety worldwide we look forward to witnessing a decline in new C. diff. cases diagnosed each year.

Thank you for your continued support and from all of us at the Foundation, we wish you and your family warm holiday greetings.

6TH European Spore Conference April 9-11, 2014

6TH European Spore Conference

at Royal Holloway, University of London

on April 9TH, 10TH, 11TH, 2014

* Online registration is open - early registration is available
until February 1st, 2014.

The European Spores Conference provides the only worldwide forum for scientists with an interest in spores and spore-forming bacteria. The conference has followed earlier meetings in Slovakia and Italy and with the last being held at the Royal Holloway, University of London in April 2012.

We are particularly keen to see talks from younger researchers and we will organize sessions under the following themes:

  • Spore formation, structure and function
  • The role of spores in infection and disease
  • Applications of spores
  • The impact of spores in food safety
  • Clostridium difficile
  • The use of spores as probiotics and in animal feed
  • Bacillus anthracis

Please note that we will consider any presentation that covers the field of spores or spore-formers! Travel support will be available as well as best speaker and best poster prizes for early stage researchers.

Invited speakers:

  • Patrick Eichenberger, New York University, USA.
    “An inferred model of the Bacillus subtilis global transcriptional regulatory network”
  • Rich Losick, Harvard University, USA.
    “How environmental signals trigger spore formation”
  • Lee Kroos, Michigan State University,USA.
    “A Tale of Two Spores”
  • Maja Rupnik, Institute of Public Health Maribor, Slovenia.
    “C. difficile - a 35 years of a pathogen”
  • Peter Setlow, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT USA.
    “The Germination of Spores of Bacillus and Clostridium Species: Multiple Ways to Come back to Life”

Oral presentations will be chosen from abstracts submitted before 15th February. Those interested in giving an oral presentation should send an abstract as soon as possible to s.cutting@rhul.ac.uk. Registration is not necessary for abstract submission and can be completed later.

Deadlines:

  • Awards – For travel support the deadline for submission is: 1st February 2014
  • Abstract – For consideration of poster or speaker presentation the deadline for submission of abstracts is: 15th February 2014
  • Registration – Registration for the conference: 28th March 2014

We look forward to seeing you at the Royal Holloway in April 2014!

The organizing committee,
Simon Cutting, Ezio Ricca, Imrich Barak and Neil Fairweather

For full details and online registration please click on the following link:

http://sporesconference.com/

For more information please contact :

Prof. Simon Cutting
School of Biological Sciences,
Royal Holloway, University of London,
Egham, Surrey
TW20 0EX, UK
Tel: +44-(0)1784-443760
Mobile: +44-(0)7733-425024
Fax: +44-(0)1784-414224
E-mail: S.Cutting@rhul.ac.uk

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C diff Helpful Tip To Stop Spreading The Germs

It is a great way to make a stand refraining from using plastic shopping bags. Make sure to launder the reusable shopping bag after each trip to the market (read instructions prior to machine washing). Germs love to attach themselves to the reusable shopping bags that later land on the kitchen counters, tables, and where food preparation takes place. One more tip on how to keep you and your family safe from harmful germs.Image

C Diff - November - “Raising C Diff Awareness” Worldwide

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C Diff Foundation kicks off the “Raising C Diff Awareness” campaign. It is not for the day, or just the month of November, it is for a lifetime. November has been chosen to elevate, heighten, deliver powerful messages, and share important, scientific data regarding this harmful and sometimes fatal gastrointestinal infection, aka “Super-bug.” Clostridium difficile, C. difficile, C. diff. IS one of the Super-bugs plaguing communities worldwide. It does not matter how you spell it, knowing that it exists, explaining how to prevent it, treat it, and kill the spores left behind - now that is the important information and the mission of the C Diff Foundation.

Many inquire, “Why was the month of November chosen to raise awareness for C. diff.?” Two reasons: The first reason is November is the month C Diff Foundation was founded. The second reason: it was the month the C Diff Foundation’s founder received a confirmed negative test result after combating this dreadful infection for another year.

Why the green colored ribbon? For hope, for strength, and In loving memory of every C. diff. patient, family, and friend who lost the battle to C. diff, or had C. diff. involvement, and to those who continue to conquer it every day.

Join us in every facet of “Raising C Diff Awareness” worldwide - we welcome you and thank you for partnering with the foundation as we educate, and advocate for C. diff. prevention, treatments, and environmental safety worldwide.

For information on registering in the CDF’s Volunteer Program please contact us via: email cdiff.foundation@yahoo.com or telephone or SMS/Text (919) 201-1512.

We take this opportunity to thank our Corporate Sponsors in the November 5th’s “Raising C Diff Awareness” Conference taking place in Durham, NC: Xenex, Optimer Pharmaceutical, Cubist Pharmaceutical, sBiomed for Steriplex SD, UVDI and our Supporting Sponsors: Clorox Healthcare, IET,LTD for Excelyte, Nomad Ind., CDVAX, Heart & Soul Holistic Center, United Hoist & Scaffolding Corp., Gulf Winds Renewable Construction. Thank you for partnering with C Diff Foundation and Raising C Diff Awareness Worldwide.

”We’re ALL In It Together!”