If a bed's previous patient receives antibiotics, it puts the next occupant at an increased risk for a Clostridium difficile infection, according to an article on the Becker's Infection Control and Quality Control website.
"Antibiotics can directly affect risk for [C. diff infection] in patients who do not themselves receive antibiotics," according to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Out of 100,615 pairs of patients who occupied a hospital bed sequentially, the second patient developed a C. diff infection in 576 pairs.
The risk of a C. diff infection in the second patient was 0.72 percent when the first patient received antibiotics and 0.43 percent when the first patient did not.
The Top States for Pest Infestations
Ground Broken on Wichita Biomedical Campus Project
Aligning Construction and Facility Activities to Minimize Problems
Cooper University Health Care Breaks Ground on 'Project Imagine'
3 Employees Injured by Patient at Halifax Infirmary's Emergency Department