CDC investigates deadly bacteria's link to doctors' offices
By Elizabeth Cohen, Senior Medical Correspondent
Updated 8:43 AM ET, Thu February 26, 2015
(CNN)The Centers for Disease Control is raising a red flag that a potentially deadly bacteria may be lurking in your doctor's office.
The bacteria, C. difficile, is typically found in hospitals, but a study out Wednesday reports a substantial number of people contracted the bug who hadn't been in a hospital, but had recently visited the doctor or dentist.
The bacteria can cause deadly diarrhea, according to the CDC, with infections on the rise. The new report shows nearly half a million Americans infected in various locations in one year, with 15,000 deaths directly attributed to C. diff.
In a 2013 study, researchers found C. diff present in six out of seven outpatient clinics tested in Ohio, including on patients' chairs and examining tables.
The CDC is so concerned that they're starting a new study to try to assess nationally whether people are getting C. diff in doctors' offices.
"This is really an important issue. We need to understand better how people are getting C. diff," said Dr. Cliff McDonald, a medical epidemiologist at the CDC.
Read Article Here: http://www.cnn.com/...
This is medical news that should be of importance to every one of us. You can pick up a deadly bacterium just by sitting in a chair or touching a counter in your doctor or dentist office. (Or any kind of medical facility that you are counseled or examined in). We had a family member die after a dentist visit for a cracked wisdom tooth. When the dentist was finished extracting 10 teeth and prescribing antibiotics by the truckload, our cousin contracted C-Diff. The D-Diff caused unbearable diarrhea for many months until her death. What a horrible way to die, especially when it should never have happened. I guess this is what you would call a classic case of medical BUYER BEWARE.
thinkingblue