Baby's Case History - infection from 2 mos to 4.5 mos old

[Guest]

My daughter also had a c.difficile infection from around 2 months old to 4 months old...she is now 7 months old. She was treated with the Vancomycin after having a bad reaction to Flagyl. The vancomycin helped a lot, but she did have a relapse, which ended up "going away on it's own" after we waited 2 weeks to get an appointment with a pediatric GI specialist in late December. I breastfed her the entire time. I hope that is what helped it to go away on it's own after the relapse. :) <BR> <BR>The pediatric GI specialist (Dr. Edith Pilzer at G.I. Care for Kids in Atlanta, GA) that we saw said that although it is rare, there are cases of babies with c.difficile infections whose only exposure to antibiotics was through breastmilk. I had mastitis when my daughter was 6 weeks old and was put on an antibiotic. Both my ob/gyn and my daughter's pediatrician both said it was fine to nurse her while taking the antibiotic (Erythromycin). I only nursed for 3 days while taking the antibiotic because it seemed to be bothering her tummy, so I gave her formula and stored breastmilk for the rest of my treatment course. Also, the hospital doesn't normally send out detailed bills, but instead only sends out simple bills with a total amount due, paid by insurance, etc. I asked the hospital to send me a detailed bill from my daughter's birth and on my bill was a IV shot of Erythromycin. I am not sure why I was given an antibiotic shot and was not aware it was given until I got the bill! <BR> <BR>My daughter was born in August and I had the mastitis in September and took the Erythromycin. It was just 1-2 weeks after that my daughter's symptoms started. For a long time we thoguht it was a reaction to a food that I was eating. We tried cutting out all sorts of things. I even went on a strict "total elimination diet" to try to figure out what food was causing (what we thought was) an allergic reaction. Finally, in November, we insisted the pediatrician take stool samples and she was diagnosed with c.diff. It was terrible knowing something was wrong with my little girl and she was hurting but not knowing what it was or how to help. It was some relief to have a diagnosis. <BR> <BR>The same day in November she was prescribed the Flagyl, I was in the hospital with a kidney infection. I was prescribed another antibiotic (Levoquin). After one day, I was switched to Bactrim for 7 days iirc. My daughter had a bad reaction to the Flagyl (very listless, sleepy, difficult to rouse, trouble staying alert even to eat - I got scared). We took her to the emergency room and the pediatrician there phoned a pediatric gastroenterologist he knew and she recommended the Vancomycin (liquid). The vancomycin turned out to help a great deal and with in days her stools seemed normal again. It was a 10-day course iirc and all seemed fine afterward for the first 2 weeks, then symptopms started returning. We did more stool samples and again, positive for c.diff. :( ( <BR> <BR>So we set an appointment with the pediatric gastroenterologist for the 29 of December. Strangely enough, as we neared the appointment date, her symptoms seemed to be improving and by the appt day, her stools seemed normal. The pediatric GI ordered a c.difficile *culture* rather than jsut testing again for the presence of the toxins. That test came back normal and since then, she has seemed fine :) . There have been a couple of times I feared the infection was coming back, but it turned out to be only a single odd stool. <BR> <BR>She is currently symptom free and a much happier little girl :) <BR> <BR>I wanted to email you because you had asked about other ways a baby could get c.difficle infection. It could have come from antibiotics you have had or jsut simply caused by undeveloped flora environment in the digestive tract of a very young baby. <BR> <BR>(C&P - also emailed to another mother of a baby with c.diff infection) <BR> <BR>I hope this information is helpful to someone. If anyone has questions, feel free to email and I will be happy to talk. :) <BR> <BR>Good luck everyone

[Guest]

Just wanted to update that my daughter remains symptom-free! <BR> <BR>Good luck everyone!

[schwab]

Hello, Our baby boy was diagnosed + with C-Diff also. In your posting, you talk about "symptoms" and what you thought was an allergy. What allergic reactions did you encounter? Was her skin all red and dry like? Like a rash? That's what our baby has. I belive our situation is just about identical to yours with Breastfeeding and my wife developing Mastitis and then him getting bloody stools/ rash. anyway, he's losing weight now. did your baby lose any weight? his demeanor seems good, but after a week he's still showing bloody stools. her "super strict" diet doesn't seem to help at all. ok, so my question is- did the allergic reactions improve after the C-diff cleared. Please let me know asap. Thank you- a concerned father.