Infected with C.Diff strain from research lab

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student
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Joined: Sat Nov 17, 2018 11:14 pm

Infected with C.Diff strain from research lab

Postby student » Sat Nov 17, 2018 11:50 pm

Hello,

My story is kind of atypical, but I'd like to share it in case someone can offer advice. I'm an extremely healthy 25M who was prescribed doxycycline for 8 years to treat my acne. I am also a PhD student at the medical school of a major university. Anyways, the lab across the hall from ours does research on C.Diff and there is a high possibility I was infected by one of their strains (there have been several accidents and violations of safety protocol in the past). Initially I had moderate diarrhea that solidified after 3-4 days, but was left with severe pain and altered stool appearance (very weird/orange/grainy). I immediately suspected C.Diff because the pain was inflammatory, there was no doubt in my mind. I requested a stool test and it came back positive. I was very scared, whatever strains they work with are nasty and probably MDR (although the evidence suggests that drug resistance isn't as pronounced in C.Diff as other bacteria such as Pseudomonas).

At this point, the department knew this was bad news and gave me the number of an ID physician associated with the biosafety board. He said that it was not C.Diff and that I was a carrier with a GI comorbidity, even suggesting sypihilis! Ha! This had me scared to death because what else causes these symptoms? it had to be Crohns or UC right?? Anyways, I initially responded to Falgyl 500mg 3x daily 10 days, but the symptoms gradually crept back on me. I told this to the ID doc and he said, again, not C. Diff. which made me really think that there was a conflict of interest. After finally seeing a GI he did a CT scan which confirmed colitis and said that this was almost certainly C. Diff. As of right now I am having normal stools but am experiencing severe proctitis, it is so hard to manage. Is it possible this is still an active infection or just part of the healing process? It's very painful and distressing. I have a colonoscopy in two weeks to rule out IBD and test for C. Diff again. If positive should I do the vanco taper? Can I just fight it off, I'd like to avoid overtreating this since I feel like that might lead to further complications. Anyways, I've been extremely depressed and even had suicidal thoughts when I was in writhing pain, I'm also considering legal action. Sorry for the long story, if anyone has advice or could provide insight, I'd be very grateful. Thanks.

beth22
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Re: Infected with C.Diff strain from research lab

Postby beth22 » Sun Nov 18, 2018 1:04 am

Hi and welcome to the site. Please read the first forum for information for new posters. I am so sorry that you got c difficile because of the work you do, although we have had many people in the medical field who also acquired it through their work at hospitals, etc.

C difficile can leave you with a lot of inflammation and there are others who mentioned proctitis as well as other conditions. If you need to treat again, I would talk to your doctor about Dificid. It targets c difficile and kills the least good flora. Meanwhile try to eat bland food so as not to irritate your colon more. I would avoid anything spicy, raw vegetables and dairy if you have a problem with it. I did, but some don't.

roy
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Re: Infected with C.Diff strain from research lab

Postby roy » Sun Nov 18, 2018 6:37 am

I would listen to the GI that said  I was a carrier with a GI comorbidity.
That is highly probable given your lack of classic symptoms.
By not treating that GI might have saved you from it becoming a full on infection.

I dont think a Dr would be able to diagnose c.diff with a CT scan.
At best a CT shows a slight thickening of the colon wall and theres numerous other causes for that.
You said that after flagyl the symptoms gradually returned, that's not typical.
A c.diff relapse is usualy obvious, it returns with a watery D vengance!

Legal action.
Probably not going to happen unless they have a very unique strain that's not been seen before.
If that was the case their bio hazard precautions would be on par with that of a smallpox lab or military bio weapon facility.
C.diff is a VERY common potential pathogen.
put 100 students in a room and at least 5 will be carriers, 25 of them will have it on their shoes but none of them would be sick.
It's common in the food we eat and any lawyer would tear apart the allegation that it was caused by the research lab

NanciT
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Re: Infected with C.Diff strain from research lab

Postby NanciT » Sun Nov 18, 2018 9:59 am

Talk with your GI once you have had your tests, see where you symptoms are after testing. If they continue with D and CDIFF is positive, I would try and treat with DIficid.
As far as legal action, if you could IDENTIFY the strain came from the lab...it would still be difficult. As you will read on the board, we have alot of Healthcare providers on the site. Some who did NOT take antibiotics and they come down with CDIFF. I was not working directly with patients at the time. It would be hard to prove. Focus on getting well. Hopefully you will continue to improve

NanciT


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