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While half of all C diff cases occur in people under 65, 90 percent of its fatalities occur to those over 65.
Recent research proves fecal microbiota transplantation has become a viable option for patients not responding to antibiotics.
According to the John Hopkins Medicine’s January 2014 newsletter, a 2013 Dutch study published in the New England Journal of Medicine was the first to test an FMT’s effectiveness against the standard usage of the drug Vancomycin.
Using mostly older adults, the study reported a 94 percent cure by fecal transplant to a 31 percent cure by the antibiotic. The findings actually led to an early dismissal of the study.
The Mayo Clinic team in Arizona has performed 24 fecal microbiota transplants and found that in every case, the patient was discharged from the hospital with total eradication of the germ taking place in hours or days.
Because this is a procedure done in greater numbers and locations fairly recently, limited amounts of multi-year study data are available. More studies are underway, though there is still a risk factor of unknown future side-effects.
I have a friend in their mid-80’s from Sun City who became proactive in managing C difficile. Here is their story:
“I want to get word out to our community that there is help for C difficile. This doctor saved my life. If anyone is in the same position that I was, I want to tell them there is immediate help. In fact, recently I recommended a 90-year-old for my doctor’s transplant. She is doing very well. It [the transplant] is absolutely painless and usually treated as outpatient.
“Recently, I had had frequent bladder infections. Different doctors gave me varying antibiotics. Because antibiotics take out the good flora [and the bad] to fight disease, I developed C diff. To fight the super germ, over a period of a year, I was given seven doses of three different drugs, two being Vancomycin and Dificid. I spent thousands of dollars for out-of-pocket costs after insurance money was already paid. I was in the hospital three times for five days, each for dehydration. I grew weaker and weaker from loss of nutrients in the stool.
“Finally, I went on the Internet. I had to help myself. I feared I was dying after having lost 42 pounds. There I discovered the fecal transplant. Gastroenterologists never mentioned to me fecal transplants. An infectious disease doc discouraged it. I made 26 phone calls. I contacted “big box” hospitals. Mayo did [the transplant], but I was too weak to travel there. I found that Madison General (Wis.) did it. I also discovered a doc in the Milwaukee area. The doctor’s name is Dr. Janis Kengis, who is at Waukesha Memorial Hospital.
“I was so sick that I did not want to wait for a family member or friend to go through the donor approval tests, so I used Dr. Kengis’ donor bank. I did a comparable prep as used for a colonoscopy. The next day, the transplant was put into my colon. I felt better immediately, but as a result of the transplant, my doctor found cancer in my colon. The necessary surgery for the cancer removal was performed two days after the FMT. I now wonder if the length of time that I had my C diff infection and its continued colitis might have caused my colon cancer. I also wonder why my gastroenterologists did not tell me that I could have been cured overnight.
“To replace the good flora lost through taking multitudes of antibiotics, I now take probiotics daily and Greek yogurt. When I first got [the transplant], I had to take an antibiotic to make sure that I was rid of the germ. Then [I was] put on BRAT Diet (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, and Toast), a bland diet, low in fiber. I am now on soft foods that have no acids or spices. You have to be careful not to get sick and need antibiotics. Because C diff could have easily spread and continued living when I had it for that year, I had to disinfect my house when I came home from the transplant. I also took precautions on seeing anyone socially for the coming year.
“People, when [they] go to a doc, ask for antibiotics [too soon]. They don’t realize what can happen to them.”
NOTE: Anyone wanting more information on C diff, treatment, or a physician, may contact my friend through a letter sent to the Sun Day at the address on page 2, in care of Joanie Koplos.
