Fecal Microbiota Transplantation Is Saving Lives
There are few topics more distasteful than fecal transplants, and discussing them with a doctor can be embarrassing for many people. However, a fecal transplant could be the cure to Clostridium difficile, or C. diff, a nasty infection that affects up to half a million people each year and kills close to 30,000, according to new research out of the Centers for Disease Control. The procedure has also had an incredibly beneficial impact on those suffering from Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, though it is still labeled experimental by the Food and Drug Administration.
In layman’s terms, fecal microbiota transplantation, or FMT, takes healthy stool from a donor and places it inside the colon of an unhealthy person. The “good” microbes help eliminate or regulate the “bad” ones, and a patient is, essentially, cured. While the topic may be less than pleasant, the results are pretty spectacular – so spectacular, according to The New Yorker, that the January 2013 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine reported that “ninety-four per cent of those [patients with c. diff infections] who underwent fecal transplants [recovered] —the vast majority after a single treatment.”
Why c. diff is so prevalent
One of the primary problems with c. diff is the ease with which it can be transferred from one person to another. Unfortunately, this transmission could be lessened exponentially if healthcare providers were more careful and more sanitary when going about their work. According to the CDC, “Any surface, device, or material (e.g., toilets, bathing tubs, and electronic rectal thermometers) that becomes contaminated with feces may serve as a reservoir for the Clostridium difficile spores. Clostridium difficile spores are transferred to patients mainly via the hands of healthcare personnel who have touched a contaminated surface or item” (emphasis ours). Hospital patients and nursing home residents are at constant risk, as it only takes one person with the infection, and one health service worker without properly sanitized equipment, to cause the infection to spread.
Recognizing the signs
The infection, which is an inflammation of the intestines, often presents like the flu: victims will experience fever, nausea, stomach pain and watery diarrhea. A person has a greater chance of being infected if he or she is on antibiotics, which can lower the immune system’s resistance to the infection. For this reason, the elderly and the very young are in the most serious danger of the infection being fatal, as their immune systems are already compromised simply because of their age.
C. diff infections are dangerous, and often the result of inadequate care. While none of the hospitals in Washington, D.C. were designated as failures by the CMS for c. diff infections, four of the hospitals in West Virginia failed for exactly that reason. This is why speaking to an experienced medical malpractice attorney is a smart idea if you or your family member contracted c. diff at a healthcare facility.
Christopher T. Nace works in all practice areas of the firm, including medical malpractice, birth injury, drug and product liability, motor vehicle accidents, wrongful death, and other negligence and personal injury matters.
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