Help! C. Difficile exposure!

[esvaja]

What to do? Just breathe in & breathe on & go on - to paraprase one of the members.
I work in an opthamolgy practice & we have a PT unit across the hall. Anyway 1 of the PT pts threw up last friday in the PT area, it was cleaned up not disinfected. Anyway, 6 therapists have come down w/the runs & co. & several PT pts have gotten sick too.

My AVR is sceduled for 4/6.

Meanwhile the haz mat team is coming in tomarrow & the whole PT dept is shut down while they disinfect. The opthy dept is open. I'm wearing a mask & washing my hands & we are going to do a scrub down of the clinic around the pts. Should I stay or should I go?

Daiva

 

[Rosebud54]

I'd go home and stay if I had enough leave. If not, I'd keep the wearing the mask and washing my hands. It's two weeks until surgery.

Carol

 

[esvaja]

I just put in a call to my card & they are going to callback. Either way, I have been exposed!!!!!

Wouldn't you know I had the flu shot & had no colds or flu this winter. Murphy's Law?

Daiva

 

[Adrienne]

One thing that could help and certainly will not hurt is to take probiotics. It may be too late if you have already contracted the C. Difficile bacteria, but it certainly can't hurt to try.

 

[catwoman]

I am very surprised it was not shut down & disinfected at the time of the incident.
OSHA and the state & city health departments would really love to have a phone call about this one!!!
I have been in convention centers that have been disinfected after someone has thrown up.

BTW, my husband used povidine-iodine surgical scrub (Betadine is TM name) for a week or two pre-op to reduce risk of MRSA or any other infections.

 

[Marcia58]

I agree with the probiotics suggestion. It may not be too late. You want to be taking AT LEAST 10-15 million organisms per day.

 

[Bina]

I would stay home and do the preventative measures as above. Good Luck.

 

[Jeri]

I would stay home.....scary stuff right before surgery....you are in my prayers!!

 

[Luana]

I had a C difficle infection some years ago and treatment was oral vancomycin, I think about 10 days. Do you have any symptoms? I've heard there are some newer strains that are more difficult to treat. Even if you don't have symptoms, you might want to find out if checking a stool sample would find something that hasn't surfaced yet? I would be on the safe side and stay away, and let your docs know what's happened.

 

[nngbwh]

Better to play it safe , stay home and call your doctor. He or she may prescribe antibiotics.

Good luck with surgery on 4/6.

 

[Greg a]

Daiva, if you insist on returning to work pre surgery forget the mask BUT HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT WERAING A FULL HAZMAT SUIT

as to the MRSA take it from one that fell victim THIS is a great idea

......................BTW, my husband used povidine-iodine surgical scrub (Betadine is TM name) for a week or two pre-op to reduce risk of MRSA or any other infections.

 

[catwoman]

I had a C difficle infection some years ago and treatment was oral vancomycin, I think about 10 days. Do you have any symptoms? I've heard there are some newer strains that are more difficult to treat. Even if you don't have symptoms, you might want to find out if checking a stool sample would find something that hasn't surfaced yet? I would be on the safe side and stay away, and let your docs know what's happened.

I found a few places that suggested treating with metronidazole (Flagyl) first and then going to vancomycin if that didn't do the trick. Flagyl is frequently used to treat several forms of diarrhea.

 

[esvaja]

My card suggested if I feel "runny" or "rumbly" in the tummy to come in & get a "cup" & they'll check a stool sample for the nasty. I am going to take some probiotics too. Has anyone taken probiotics just before surgery & just after as soon as they could swallow?Daiva

 

[Mentu]

Daiva, if you have been exposed but have not become ill and you do not yet know what the pathogen is, there doesn't seem much you can do except avoid additional exposure. Staying home sounds reasonable since it is possible that your own hygene routines may have been sufficient to keep you from getting sick. Avoiding further chances of exposure may yet keep you from becoming ill. When you know the pathogen, you may want to speak with your doctor about antibiotics.

Larry

 

[Hockey Heart]

Oh man that sucks! I'm pre-surgery too and my biggest fear is having an active virus or bacterial infection at the time of surgery. Talk to your doctors about this and maybe even consult an Infectious Disease Dr.

 

[sylviayasgur]

hi daiva,
i had c.diff a few years ago as a result of strong antibiotics. it took about a year to get it out of my system. 2 rounds of flagyll did not work. vancomycin finally did the trick (after losing about 20 lbs- i looked ill). i was also instructed by my gastro doc to take probiotics, specifically sacharomyces boulardi (florastor). follow instructions on the bottle (think it's 2 capsules a day). did help a lot.
if/when i have to take antibiotics, which i rarely do, he insists i take the florastor with them.
hope this helps. good luck,
sylvia

 

[esvaja]

That's exactly what I am doing. I have to stop now because the instructions given me pre-surgery were to stop all vitamins & certain RXs 5 days before. I am going to ask if I can start the stuff up again as soon after surgery as I can
Daiva

 

[Jeri]

Daiva,

You continue to be in my prayers. How are you feeling??? Hopefully this C-diff will not become an issue...stay positive. God bless.

Jeri