Bowel Infections Double In Children
While I devote much of my subject matter involved in this topic to candida overgrowth, there has been new information that has come to light, the rise of C diff in children.
The number of children hospitalized with a dangerous gastrointestinal infection called Clostridium difficile (C. diff) more than doubled between 1997 and 2006. According to Mitch Cohen from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, the numbers have increased from 3,565 to 7,779 in only 9 years.
Cohen called the increase “large and significant,” taking into account the infections medical costs and the increased risk of death. Other research is showing increases in the number of C. diff infections in adults and senior citizens, especially in nursing homes.
C. difficile is a bacterial infection of the colon in which symptoms can range from diarrhea to life threatening complications.
The infection usually occurs after antibiotic use, and is more common in people with inflammatory bowel disease such as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis.
Some people carry C. diff in their intestines but it is also in the environment, especially in health care facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes, and is easily spread from person to person.
According to Cohen there could be several reasons for this. One possible reason could simply be that we’re better at diagnosing it now. But could this really be the case that back in 1997 we were so incapable of diagnosing a simple bacterial infection.
Another possible reason is that a new more virulent strain of C. diff is emerging. After all, we all know that these bugs mutate. We’ve all heard of H1N1, bird flu and the like; however, in Cohen’s opinion this is not likely.
The third reason relates to the information that we have discussed here. In Cohen’s own words; “there’s something funny going on with the bug or something funny about the environment that’s changing.” Cohen went on to say; “There might be a change in the existing bacterial communities in our bodies. There could be other factors in the population. The real tipping point is just not clear at this point.”
Please remember in the 5th paragraph I mentioned that C diff. usually occurs after antibiotic use. And in Cohen’s quote above he makes a clear but also vague reference to “the existing bacterial communities in our bodies.” For further information, please see this post: Probiotics Benefits.
Now if you’ve read any of my articles you know where I’m going with this, and I am not even going to use the term dysbiosis. Names aren’t that important, and there is never just one cause. But if we can just think for ourselves and do a little reading we can do our best to put 2+2 together, we don’t have to be scientists or doctors, we just have to pay attention.
Every day the importance of the friendly beneficial bugs within all of us is getting harder and harder to ignore.
Results of this study were published online on January 3rd 2011 in Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.
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Important: This post is not intended as medical advice. If you or your child are sick, seek medical attention immediately.