What is this?

Clostridium difficile is a germ that can cause diarrhea. Most cases of C. diff infection occur in patients taking antibiotics. The C. diff bacteria can survive for a long time outside the body on hard surfaces, so infections can spread in health care environments.

Why this matters?

Preventing Clostridium difficile infections is important because it is very hard to treat and can be debilitating to hospital patients who are already sick.

Technical Description

Number of all Incident Hospital-Onset Clostridium Difficile LabID Events per month in the facility/ per 10,000 patient days: http://www.cdc.gov/nhsn/PDFs/pscManual/12pscMDRO_CDADcurrent.pdf