Intestinal pathogen a growing threat

Wall Street Journal (subscription required), November 11, 2008

A new survey has found that more than 1% of U.S. hospital patients are infected with Clostridium difficile. Several recent studies have shown that the prevalence of C. diff has risen sharply in the past decade. "They're all pointing to the same thing: This is a major public-health problem," said L. Clifford McDonald, a C. diff expert at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The survey is based on one-day snapshots taken this year at 648 hospitals in 47 states.