We received this email a few weeks ago and wanted to share it with everyone since it’s a perfect example of how clostridium difficile infections are increasingly harming younger and younger people. The stereotypical C. diff patient is an elderly person recovering from surgery. But, as we learned with our mother, Peggy, and other from previous stories we’ve shared, stereotypes are dangerous. While it’s important for healthcare workers to understand the typical risk factors of a C. diff patient, being married to a particular patient profile can cause dangerous infections to go undiagnosed.

This story, shared by a young, firefighter/paramedic, not only dispels the myths of the typical C. diff patient, but also shows that there is hope for recovery and illustrates the triumph of will and spirit over this terrible infection.

You truly are an inspiration and I’m sure your mom is watching down from above with a huge smile for her sons. It is such a tribute that you would take this fight on to help others and raise awareness of this deadly disease.

I am 36 years old and have recurrent c diff. I was first diagnosed in 2009 when I was a healthy firefighter/paramedic. The disease almost cost me my life. I dropped 80 lbs and was a walking skeleton. I was in and out of the hospital for two months and then in a nursing home at the ripe old age of 34. I made a promised to myself that I would recover and I did for two and a half years.

Not without a lot of work and support from my doctors. It took me almost a year to recover and then I decided to run my first Sprint triathlon. I competed in it back in august of 2011 with my entire family by my side. It was such an emotional day. Unfortunately I had to have two minor abdominal surgeries in Nov and Dec and the c diff returned with a vengeance. I will conquer this again and I will get back on my feet.

Thank you for letting me share my story and I would like to help in any way that I can to help spread the word. Once I am able to start walking again I would love to run in honor of all the c diff sufferers around the globe. It’s giving me an incentive and goal.

Thank you again for all that you have done.

Sincerely,

Katie

The antibiotic clindamycin has long been strongly correlated with clostridium difficile infections. In fact, as far back as 1998, the Veterans Affairs Medical Center at Virginia Commonwealth University did a study proving that restricted use of clindamycin, not only reduced the incidence of C. diff among patients but also reduced the overall cost of treatment.

I have deep ambivalence about clindamycin use since my mother’s death from C. diff began with her being prescribed it for a dental procedure. Prior to my mother’s death, like most people, I didn’t question the necessity or efficacy of the prescriptions given to me by my doctors. Occasionally, I worried about possible side effects, but that was more a vague concern than a true fear. All of that changed in April 2010, with my mother’s death.

It’s no secret that antibiotics are widely overused. Studies show that American children will, on average, receive 20 doses of antibiotics before their 18th birthday. And, for upper respiratory infections in adults, which are largely caused by viruses, as many of 40 million unnecessary and ineffective antibiotic prescriptions are written every year. These unnecessary prescriptions can not only cause long term harm to our individual bodies by permanently damaging our intestinal flora, but our combined overuse is making infections like C. diff and MRSA stronger and more resistant to the treatments we have.

So what does all this have to do with the cute, little mouse over there?

A recent study by a research team at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City showed that a single dose of clindamycin wiped out 90% of bacteria types in mice intestines. While we mostly think of bacteria as something to be avoided, our gastrointestinal system relies on billions of good bacteria to digest food and protect us from harmful bacteria like C. diff. In fact, the bacteria in our guts is a huge part of our body’s overall immune system. By eliminating 90% of the bacteria in the study mice’s intestines, just one dose of clindamycin left them “unusually susceptible” to C. diff.  The infected mice “developed severe weight loss, and had a mortality rate of roughly 40 percent.”

Worst of all, the bacterial flora in the mice’s intestines did not regenerate. Martin Blaser, chair of the Department of Medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, recently posited that the long term damage caused by antibiotic use may be fueling the epidemic of C. diff and MRSA transmission that costs tens of thousands of lives every year.

Does this mean we shouldn’t take antibiotics? No. Antibiotics are one of the greatest medical advancements in our history.  But it does mean that physicians should be upfront with those they’re treating with regard to the dangers inherent in taking these drugs. Every day hundreds of Americans die from C. diff infections and among those who survive many report not being told about the risk. Further research may indicate that treatment with clindamycin and other antibiotics require an aftercare plan to restore a patient’s bacterial flora.

At a minimum, physicians and patients should have an open and informed dialogue about the risks and benefits that come with using antibiotics. In some cases, antibiotics are clearly necessary. In others, it’s more of a judgment call. Patients should know that taking antibiotics for a minor bout of bronchitis is an option. But so is rest and fluids.

Americans should be engaged partners in their healthcare. But to do so we need to give up the myth that drugs like clindamycin are a panacea, confront the reality that all drugs carry some risk, and have physicians that are willing to engage in frank conversations about our treatment.

Please take just one minute to watch our public service announcement and another to share it with your friends and family.