C. diff   Guidelines and Prevention Resources

Guidelines

• Isolation Precautions Guideline
• Disinfection and Sterilization Guideline
• Environmental Infection Control Guidelines
• Hand Hygiene Guidelines

Assessment

The Targeted Assessment for Prevention (TAP) Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) Implementation Guide

Antibiotic Use Resources

• Be Antibiotics Aware (formerly Get Smart about Antibiotics) is a national effort to help fight antibiotic resistance and improve antibiotic prescribing and use.

• Antibiotic Prescribing and Use in Hospitals and Long-Term Care
• Antibiotic Stewardship Program Implementation Resources
• Checklist for Core Elements of Hospital Antibiotic Stewardship Programs

Long-Term Care Facilities Resources

• Early Identification and Containment of CDI Checklist
• NHSN: Tracking Infections in Long-term Care Facilities

Related Guidance from Professional Organizations

• Duration of Contact Precautions for Acute-Care Settings (SHEA)external icon
• Clinical Practice Guidelines for Clostridium difficile Infection in Adults and Children: 2017 Update by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA)external icon

• Strategies to Prevent Clostridium difficile Infections in Acute Care Hospitals: 2014 Updateexternal icon
• Rationale for Hand Hygiene Recommendations after Caring for a Patient with Clostridium difficile Infection pdf icon[PDF – 3 pages]external icon
• Guide to Preventing Clostridium difficile Infections pdf icon[PDF – 100 pages]external icon
• Clostridium difficile Infection in Infants and Children (AAP)external icon

CDC Expert Commentaries

Core Elements of Antibiotic Stewardship for Nursing Homesexternal icon
Dr. Nimalie Stone talks about antimicrobial stewardship in nursing homes. Improving the use of antibiotics to protect patients and reduce the threat of antibiotic resistance is a national priority.

Dying From C diff: Who Is Most Vulnerable?external icon
Dr. Nimalie Stone talks about a new study that indicates that the risks for C. difficile infection and death increase with age in every setting.

Refining Our Approach to Clostridium difficile Preventionexternal icon
Practical strategies to reduce C. diff in healthcare settings:
•  antibiotic stewardship
•  C. diff testing
•  isolation and infection control
•  environmental cleaning
•  communication

Publications

• Trends in U.S. Burden of Clostridioides difficile Infection and Outcomesexternal icon
• Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States, 2019
• Making Healthcare Safer: Stopping C. difficile Infections
• Burden of C. diff Infection in the U.Sexternal icon
• Infection Control in the Multidrug-Resistant Era: Tending the Human Microbiomeexternal icon Pritish K. Tosh; L. Clifford McDonald Clinical Infectious Diseases 2011; doi: 10.1093/cid/cir899

CDC Safe Healthcare Blog

• 341 Days Without a C. difficile Infection: How Mercy Health – St. Anne Hospital Reduced C. difficile Infection Rates to Zero
• Cystic Fibrosis and C. Diff : A Dangerous Combination
• We All Must Get Smarter About Antibiotics
• Searching for C. difficile at Hospital Admission: A Commentary in JAMA Internal Medicine
• C. Diff Foundation Launches Patient, Family Support Program