C diff who is at risk

The effect of antibiotics can last as long as several months. If you come in contact with C. You are more likely to get a C. Severe diarrhea causes you to lose a lot of fluids. This can put you at risk for dehydration. If you have been taking antibiotics recently and have symptoms of a C. Your provider will ask about your symptoms and do a lab test of your stool. In some cases, you might also need an imaging test to check for complications.

Certain antibiotics can treat C. If you were already taking a different antibiotic when you got C. If you have a severe case, you may need to stay in the hospital. However, if there is an imbalance in your intestines, C. The bacteria start to release toxins that irritate and attack the lining of your intestines.

This is what leads to symptoms of a C. The most common risk factor for C. Antibiotics can disrupt the normal balance in your intestines.

Your risk increases if you have taken antibiotics for a long period of time or if the antibiotic is broad-spectrum treats a wide variety of bacteria.. People who are 65 years of age or older are at greater risk of a C. Other risk factors include:. Your doctor will need to test a stool sample to diagnose C. Follow-up tests may be needed to confirm. Your doctor may do an X-ray or computerized tomography CT scan of your colon.

You can test positive for a C. This is known as C. Some people are carriers for C. A positive test result plus symptoms indicate that you have an active C. The bacteria can spread person to person. They also live a long time on surfaces, such as toilet seats, telephones, and doorknobs. Good hygiene can help you avoid the bacteria.

If you have a C. Use a chlorine bleach-based product to clean surfaces you may have touched to avoid spreading the infection to others.

About 1 in 5 people who have C. If you were taking an antibiotic when your symptoms started, your doctor will probably ask you to stop taking it. They will watch you for dehydration if you have severe diarrhea.

For severe cases, your doctor may prescribe a day dose of an antibiotic that has proved effective in treating C. Inflammation of the colon, known as colitis. Severe diarrhea. Serious intestinal condition, such as toxic megacolon. Get Email Updates. To receive email updates about this page, enter your email address: Email Address. What's this? Links with this icon indicate that you are leaving the CDC website.

Linking to a non-federal website does not constitute an endorsement by CDC or any of its employees of the sponsors or the information and products presented on the website. You will be subject to the destination website's privacy policy when you follow the link. Having diarrhoea while taking antibiotics does not necessarily mean you have C. Diarrhoea can be caused by a number of conditions and is a common side effect of antibiotics.

A blood test may also be needed to help determine how severe the infection is. Sometimes you may need other tests or scans in hospital to check if your bowel is damaged. Your GP will advise if you need hospital treatment if you're not already in hospital. If you're in hospital, you might be moved to a room of your own during treatment to reduce the risk of the infection spreading to others.

But the symptoms come back in around 1 in 5 cases and treatment may need to be repeated. If you're well enough to recover from Clostridium difficile C. Your GP may contact you regularly to make sure you're getting better.