One of the big challenges for hospitals is to keep patients from picking up a nasty infection while they are being treated for something else. One of the most worrisome is Clostridium difficile, or C diff for short. This bug causes severe diarrhea that may become life threatening.
Antibiotic therapy is not always successful. That’s why a new approach to treating C diff is generating a great deal of interest. Researchers report that monoclonal antibodies to the toxins produced by these bacteria can be effective in preventing recurrences. Reducing the spread of C diff in hospitals with good infection control practices and utilizing new immunotherapy may help doctors defeat a dangerous bug.
[New England Journal of Medicine, Jan. 21, 2010]
The People's Perspective on Medicine