A life-threatening germ that causes diarrhea and spreads easily from doctors’ offices to hospitals and nursing homes has climbed to historic highs nationally, federal disease trackers warned Tuesday, as they pointed to efforts in Massachusetts that have helped slow the rate of infections here.
The clostridium difficile bacteria, known as C. difficile, is linked to about 14,000 deaths every year.
Those most at risk are people who have taken antibiotics and also receive care in any medical setting, health officials said during a conference call with reporters.
“C. difficile is a formidable opponent, but one that we can stop,” said Dr. Clifford McDonald, an epidemiologist with the US Centers for Disease Control and Preventionand lead author of a study that has tracked the rise of the lethal bug.
Antibiotics are life-saving medicines that stop infections, but they also destroy the body’s good bacteria for several months. During this time, patients can get sick from C. difficile picked up from contaminated surfaces or spread from a health care provider’s hands.
Almost half of infections occur in people younger than 65, officials said, but more than 90 percent of deaths occur in people 65 and older.
Health officials said a campaign by 71 hospitals in three states, including 27 facilities in Massachusetts, 33 in New York and 11 in Illinois, collectively drove down infections from C. difficile by 20 percent in less than two years.
The project focused primarily on careful monitoring of infections coming into the hospitals and attention to prevention strategies, such as careful hand-washing by health care providers and cleaning of contaminated surfaces.
Officials said the Massachusetts program also included attention to prescribing habits to ensure that antibiotics were not given to patients who didn’t need them.
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