Bad News for Hospitals: Bleach Won't Kill C. diff

The bacterium Clostridium difficile is present in nature, and under normal circumstances, is not all that dangerous because our gut biomes will keep it in check. But for people who are elderly, who are already sick, or who are taking antibiotics, a C. diff infection can be deadly. That's why this bacterium is a huge problem in hospitals, where these potential victims make up a large percentage of patients.

Now we have another reason why hospitals have such a hard time controlling C. diff. Medical facilities use huge amounts of chlorine bleach to disinfect surfaces, which kills many kinds of bacteria but has no effect on C. diff. This new study published in the journal Microbiology will cause concern among hospital staff already working hard to control the germ, but we hope it will lead to new adapted cleaning protocols that can more effectively reduce the risk of C. diff infections. -via Damn Interesting 

(Image credit: Melissa Chatham

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