CDI is estimated to cause almost half a million illnesses in the United States each year, and an estimated 29,300 deaths.

Individuals are 7 to 10 times more likely to acquire a CDI while taking antibiotics and during the month after. That’s because antibiotics that fight bacterial infections by killing bad germs can also get rid of the good germs that protect the body.

Extended stays in healthcare settings, such as hospitals and nursing homes, increase risk for acquiring a CDI. One in 11 people over age 65, diagnosed with a healthcare-associated CDI, die within one month.

Transmission can occur:

• When people touch surfaces that are contaminated with poop from an infected person.
• When people don’t wash their hands with soap and water.
• When one healthcare facility fails to notify another when it transfers a patient with C. difficile.