What is Clostridium difficile (C diff for short)?
C diff is a bacterium that is found in the gut of up to 3-5% of the population and can be found in the environment. It is the main cause of antibiotic associated diarrhoea. What are the symptoms? The effects of C diff can vary from nothing, to watery diarrhoea of varying severity and more rarely to severe inflammation of the bowel. Who is at risk from C diff? Antibiotic use is by far the commonest risk for developing C diff although enemas and / or gut surgery also increase the risk. Over 80% of cases are reported in hospital inpatients that are over 65 yrs old. Immunocompromised patients are also at risk. Children under the age of 2 are not usually affected. Staff and visitors do not get C diff. How do we diagnose C diff? The most reliable method of confirming that a person has C diff is by examining a sample of faeces in the laboratory. It will usually take 1-2 working days for the result to be available. C diff does have a distinctive odour. This, combined with the symptoms will som
