Re: Hospital Diarrhea Germ Costs $1.3 Billion in U.S.

[Guest guest]

Thank you , This is something that we all should be aware of. I

thought I had the flu. I worried with it for two months. So sick I couldn't

hold

my head up. One day I passed out cold in the bathroom with a waste basket

half full from throwing up, and as sick as a dog. I hit my head on the tiled

shower step, cracked it nicely, along with other bruises.

Don said, " Why are you laying there? " I told him, " I am sleeping. " With

wastebasket poured all over me? Well, I didn't know my head was in the shower.

I

told him I couldn't handle it anymore, and to call an ambulance. I was

hospitalized twice and my doctor had prescribed immodium, plus other medicines,

to

no avail. Boxes of it.

Finally the second time in the hospital was the charm. A young Intern read

the records that I had kept on my health, and told the big Doctors, who had

tested for everything under the sun. Clyndomiason (sp) a common drug used in

Dentistry and other places, was the culprit.

I want to tell you no one was sicker. Heaven help our older loved ones that

get it from taking antibiotics for UTI's. I remember one that had it, and I

never knew the outcome.

Love a big bunch,

Imogene

In a message dated 2/11/2008 4:14:21 PM Central Standard Time,

octoryrose@... writes:

Hospital Diarrhea Germ Costs $1.3 Billion in U.S.

(Update1)

By Tom Randall

Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) -- A bacterial infection that's acquired in

hospitals and causes severe diarrhea costs more than $1.3 billion a

year to treat in the U.S., a study found.

Each infection of the bacteria, called clostridium difficile, costs

more than $7,000 to treat, according to the study by researchers at

Washington University School of Medicine and the U.S. Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention. It was published today in the journal

Clinical Infectious Diseases.

Clostridium difficile causes about 3 million cases of diarrhea in the

U.S. each year, according to a 2005 report by the American Academy of

Family Physicians, a professional group based in Leawood, Kansas. The

emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains has led to more

complications and longer hospital stays, creating demand for new

treatments.

Clostridium difficile ``poses a significant financial burden to our

health-care system and to society in general,'' said Dubberke,

an assistant professor at the Washington University School of

Medicine and author of the study, in a statement. ``The true costs

are likely higher than our estimates, as our methods were very

conservative.''

Researchers analyzed the records of more than 24,000 patients

admitted to a hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, in 2003. Of those, 439

developed clostridium difficile, which affects hospital patients who

have taken antibiotics. Treating the disease in the hospital cost

from $2,454 to $3,240, and follow- up treatments cost $5,042 to

$7,179, the study found.

$1.3 Billion

The study only looked at admitted hospital patients and didn't

include other acute-care facilities, nursing homes, outpatient visits

to the doctor, outpatient medication or costs related to loss of

work. Clostridium difficile costs as much as $1.3 billion a year in

the U.S., based on the cost per treatment at the St. Louis hospital

and the number of estimated hospital cases in the U.S., the study

said.

About 178,000 short-term hospitalizations were complicated by

clostridium difficile in 2003, according to a 2006 study in the

Journal of Emerging Infectious Disease cited in today's report. That

increased to as many as 250,000 people in 2005, according to separate

CDC data reported in the new study.

Genzyme Corp.'s experimental medicine to treat clostridium difficile

was less effective than standard treatment with the antibiotic

vancomycin, according to a study released in July. Genzyme's

tolevamer isn't an antibiotic. It was designed to neutralize toxins

released by clostridium difficile that damage the intestines. The

drug won't reach the market by 2009 as earlier predicted, Genzyme

said in July.

Source:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?sid=a0ReaLWzYwuU & pid=20601103

---

In our links section:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/LBDcaregivers/links

w/in the folder marked:

Bathroom Aid

List of sites that help caregivers with their LO's constipation,

UTIs, impactions, and diarrhea.

w/in subfolder marked:

Diarrhea

If you're loved one is suffering from Diarrhea for more than 3 days,

you will want to educate yourself about clostridium difficile AKA " C

Diff "

**************The year's hottest artists on the red carpet at the Grammy

Awards. Go to AOL Music.

(http://music.aol.com/grammys?NCID=aolcmp00300000002565)