After reading more about C. Diff

Brewster

I would be shocked if Maren doesn't have it.  I turned her stool samples in today, so hopefully we will know something soon. 

Anyone have any experience with this disease?  I read it can last up to 1 year.  OMG.  

BubblyToes

Reading your post yesterday, I would be really surprised if that's not it.

I don't have a lot of experience with it, I do know that it can be common in the hospital setting. 

Brewster

The thing that is throwing me off is that it is most common in adults. I guess that doesn't mean it is rare in infants though.  Poor baby.    And I love that the treatment is with another antibiotic.  Ughhh.

Bubbly, does it mean that she could never have certain antibiotics again or is it just a random thing?  

BubblyToes

On one of my peds rotations I saw a lot of it in little ones. 

The problem with it is that even though it's caused by an antibiotic, it's the whole principle behind the antibiotics that causes it more than the antibiotic itself, if that makes any sense.  I don't think there's any safe way to predict the likelihood of a reoccurrance.  

I do hope you guys get it cleared up quickly!!

winomom22

It can be really contagious in the hospital setting. We put them on contact isolation when our patients get it. Some people have it in their GI tract without it causing problems. Being on antibiotics can kill some of the natural good GI bacteria, causing the c diff to become out of control and causing the diarrhea and inflammation. Make sure to wash your hands really well with soap and water-not alcohol sanitizer. The hand sanitizer doesn't kill it and actually helps it to grow. Sometimes probiotics can help to get the GI tract's normal bacteria back. It is pretty rare for healthy people to become symptomatic with it. It is usually hospital patients, but it can sometime occur in the community.

mrsL813

My 9 month old nephew is just getting over this.  He got it after being on antibiotics for an ear infection.  he has had it for awhile but certainly not a year, maybe 2 months.  He was on an antibiotic for it and would be doing okay then the antibiotic would finish and the c. diff would some back again.  Very fustrating for my sil but didn't seem to bother my nephew. He ended up having to go to a infectious disease doctor at childrens hospital to finally get it under control.  He appears to finally have gotten rid of it. I hope your little one feels better soon. Good luck.

Brewster

Yep, her poo reminds me of a newborn bf'ed baby.  Yellowish, seedy, and a very distinct/foulish sweet smell.  From what I read it is contagious from a fecal-oral route. 

She was on antibiotics back to back.  Tomorrow will be 2 weeks since she stopped taking them.  

And she's been on probiotics this whole time. 

us2andKatetoo

I have tons of experience with it, unfortunately.

If she's been off Abx for two weeks and still has explosive D, chances are it could be C. diff. 

My son was never even on Abx.  C diff has mutated and has become community acquired.  It used to be that babies could NOT even colonize C. diff because they didn't possess the receptors to the toxin in their intestines.  Some antiquated Physcians still believe this.  It is NOT true.  Babies CAN and will get C. diff these days.  It has become a superbug, like MRSA. 

My son's history involved him getting RSV at 4 months old, and needing to head over to the hospital for and i.v.  This is where he became colonized.  After leaving the hospital, he started having multi colored stools that stunk.  He was EBF, no solids.  First they said probably "stomach bug," then, after about 2 weeks the blood started.  Then they said "food allergies."  I went on a gazillion elimination diets.  I dieted to the point I went to exercise one day and nearly fainted, I was scared to eat anything. 

When the blood still didn't stop, we were referred to a GI doc at a Children's hospital.  She still thought allergies.  One day, after a particularly bad day, I called in tears and got an on call GI doc.  He said "let's order a C. diff" toxin (my son had already been ruled out for Salm, Shigella, E. coli, Listeria, and Campy).  Less than 24 hours later, they called to tell me it was positive.  The doctor was even shocked, he was only her second baby to ever have C. diff and the ONLY one not to get it from Abx., but when I told her about the hospital trip it made sense to her.  Apparently it runs rampant in hospitals and clinics now. 

The treatment is almost as bad as the C. diff.  The drug Flagyl has a horrible taste and some rough side effects.  It has to be compounded with a ton of flavoring.  The drug Vancomycin has less side effects, but is like $20/day and has been shown to affect hearing in younger children.  We chose the Flagyl, I believe we had to do 15 or 20 days.  It was longer than a normal course. 

My son got booted out of daycare and my mom had to come live with us for 6 weeks to watch him.  He was not allowed back until he had a negative test. 

Lastly, once colonized with C diff, many people have trouble getting rid of it, and lasting bowel irritability.  I very sadly ended up weaning my son to an AA formula because he needed something very gentle for his stomach.  Even the OTC hypo allergenic formulas were too much.  He had lost too much weight.  He was never, ever dehydrated, because he always ate still.  It just went right through him very quickly (8-15X of D per day).  So anyway, still to this day if my son's immune system gets work down, he gets D.  When his immune system is normal, it keeps things in check.  But, if he even gets a cold, he also gets the D. 

Sorry for the novel!  It took months to diagnose my son.  It took weeks of treatment.  It was awful.  I hate C. diff! 

Let me know if I can answer any more questions. 

us2andKatetoo

naybride04:

It can be really contagious in the hospital setting. We put them on contact isolation when our patients get it. Some people have it in their GI tract without it causing problems. Being on antibiotics can kill some of the natural good GI bacteria, causing the c diff to become out of control and causing the diarrhea and inflammation. Make sure to wash your hands really well with soap and water-not alcohol sanitizer. The hand sanitizer doesn't kill it and actually helps it to grow. Sometimes probiotics can help to get the GI tract's normal bacteria back. It is pretty rare for healthy people to become symptomatic with it. It is usually hospital patients, but it can sometime occur in the community.

This is all true.  When my son got it, the nurses at the hospital all used hand sanitizer!  It is very, very stable.  You have to use bleach.  Once diagnosed, I bleached all changing pads, diaper pails, etc.  We started using white towels that we could bleach as changing pads.  We stopped using baby wipes and started hot soapy washcloths to wipe him, that we would just throw away.  Anything he had a blow out on, we threw away or bleached the heck out of it.  We bleached the tub after every bath. 

We put Tyler on prbiotics, and they seemed to help, but not cure him.  He still takes probiotics to this day.