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Study: C. diff infects 13 out of every 1,000 patients

Quality Improvement Monitor, November 14, 2008

A new study released this week by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) found that the rate of Clostridium difficile (C. diff) infection is much higher than originally thought, according to an APIC release.

The National Prevalence Study of Clostridium difficile found that 13 out of every 1,000 hospital inpatients were either infected or colonized with C. diff. The study estimates that there are at least 7,178 inpatients on any given day in U.S. hospitals with an associated cost of $17.6 million to $51.5 million. The rate is 6.5 to 20 times higher than previous estimates indicated.

APIC’s 12,000 members collected data about all of their C. diff patients on one day between May and August 2008. A total of 1,443 patients were identified with C. diff. from the 648 participating hospitals.

Click here to read the APIC release.

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