C. diff superbug: “most of us get it and it doesn’t matter”

Clostridium difficile, almost affectionately known as C. diff, is one of the famous ‘hospital superbugs’ along with brethren such as MRSA.

C. diff (Source: Wikipedia)

Previous wisdom held that the spindly, drumstick-shaped bacterium was transmitted around hospitals. This week for BioNews, I cover a study showing that hospitals are linked to fewer than one in five C. diff infections. Most, it may be, come from contact within wider communities, or possibly from animal or food sources.

Study co-author Professor Tim Peto gave a couple of choice quotes to BBC News:

“I think we’re eating [C. diff] all the time, probably from animals, and most of us get it and it doesn’t matter.”

“More and more deep cleaning ain’t going to do any good.”

Read more here.