The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that approximately 500,000 people were infected with C. difficile in 2011, according to a report by U.S. World & News Report.
Of those Americans infected with C. diff, 29,000 died within a month of diagnosis, according to the report. Here are four things to know from the report published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
• 55 percent of healthcare associated C. diff infections occur in people 65 years of age or older
• 80 percent of deaths caused by C. diff occur in people 65 years of age or older
• One in five patients has a relapse after being treated for C. diff
• C. diff infections could be curbed by improved control of antibiotics use and strict adherence to infection control protocols when treating C. diff patients
