Chlorhexidine Bathing Effect on Clostridium Difficile Rates
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2016-06-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Clostridium difficile (C. diff.) infections, whether nosocomial or community borne, may
present with profound diarrhea, especially in those patients receiving antibiotics. Based on
a preliminary review of hospital data, the investigators have found that these symptomatic c.
diff infections occur with a relatively high incidence at Delnor Hospital. Notwithstanding
their high mortality, one recent study attributes a near quadrupling of hospitalization costs
to c. diff infections. Chlorhexidine baths have been shown in multiple randomized trials to
help reduce the incidence of highly virulent pathogens and hospital acquired infections.
Further, several studies show a favorable effect of reducing the incidence of c. diff
infections by using Chlorhexidine baths on ICU patients. Far fewer studies, however, have
focused on the effects of these baths on general medical/surgical wards. This investigation
seeks to study the effect of the daily use of 2% Chlorhexidine gluconate wipes in patients on
the general medical/surgical wards who are exposed to antibiotics for a suspected or
confirmed infection.
Phase:
Phase 2
Details
Lead Sponsor:
Jared Brooks
Collaborators:
Northwestern Medicine Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital