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Intestinal Bug Seen As Growing Threat

The Associated Press

Published: May 29, 2008

ATLANTA - The number of people hospitalized with a dangerous intestinal superbug has been growing by more than 10,000 cases a year, according to a new study.

The germ, resistant to some antibiotics, has become a regular menace in hospitals and nursing homes. The study found it played a role in nearly 300,000 hospitalizations in 2005, more than double the number in 2000.

The infection, Clostridium difficile, is found in the colon and can cause diarrhea and a more serious intestinal condition known as colitis. It is spread by spores in feces. But the spores are difficult to kill with most conventional household cleaners or antibacterial soap.

C-diff, as it's known, has grown resistant to certain antibiotics that work against other colon bacteria. The result: When patients take those antibiotics, competing bacteria die off and C-diff explodes.

This virulent strain of C-diff was rarely seen before 2000.

"The nature of this infection is changing. It's more severe," said L. Clifford McDonald, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expert who was not part of the study.

There are other factors that play into the rise of C-diff cases as well, including a larger of number of patients who are older and sicker. "And there may be some overuse and inappropriate use of antibiotics," said Marya Zilberberg, a University of Massachusetts researcher and lead author of the study.

The Zilberberg study was based on a sample of more than 36 million annual discharges from non-governmental U.S. hospitals. That data was used to generate the study's national estimates.

The research is being published in June's of Emerging Infectious Diseases, a CDC publication.

Using other scientists' estimates, the study concluded that 2.3 percent of the cases in 2004 were fatal - about 5,500 deaths. That was nearly double the percentage of C-diff-related cases that ended in death in 2000.

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