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.
Hospitals Are Energy Super-Users. Why Is It So Hard to Modernize Them?
Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Bangor Officially Opens
Early Entry: Manager's Critical Role in Construction Planning
The Evolution of Lighting in Patient Care
HealthPartners and Essentia Health to Combine Organizations