C-Diff In baby, HELP!!

amother

Chocolate

Wed, Feb 10 2016, 11:35 pm

My daughters stool test came back positive for c-diff. I didnt even know how severe this disease is until I started reading up on it. My baby is 13 months old and had taken clyndamycin a few weeks ago for a strept throat. Doc says this stool infection most likely coming from the antibiotics. He prescribed Flagyl, but as im hearing and reading I hear its just an anti-inflammatory and may not take care of the issue permanently. Ive heard this is more common in elderly or hospitalized patients... Anyone has experience with this in children?!?!?! Should I see a specialist rather than taking my pediatricians advice?

MagentaYenta

Thu, Feb 11 2016, 1:09 am

amother wrote:

OP Here,
My Ped said its a parasite and not a anti-biotic, what does that mean to me?

Flagyl is used for parasites. I took it when I had giardiasis.

eschaya

Thu, Feb 11 2016, 9:09 am

It is an antibiotic and also an antiprotazoal. Like many drugs it is used in the treatment of more than one disease. We use it in the hospital all the time to treat cdiff. I don't do pediatrics so I looked it up just in case it's different than adults and confirmed that Flagyl is the recommended agent for initial treatment of mild to moderate cdiff in children. Please listen to your physician.

amother

Chocolate

Thu, Feb 11 2016, 9:18 am

OP here...
I hear its a kind of thing that can easily keep coming back. Do you think I need to see a specialist in this field???

eschaya

Thu, Feb 11 2016, 9:25 am

In your child's case, her recent antibiotic use was the likely cause of her cdiff so I would not panic and just treat her. You can follow up with her pcp.
I don't do peds, and I'm by far not an expert, but I'd discuss it with your pediatrician and don't really see the need for a specialist at this time.

Miri7

Thu, Feb 11 2016, 12:45 pm

amother wrote:

OP here...
I hear its a kind of thing that can easily keep coming back. Do you think I need to see a specialist in this field???

I'm not in the medical field but I would recommend asking your doctor specifically about follow up and the possibility of recurrence. Maybe they want so do a stool sample again after treatment to confirm it was effective or something.

Maybe

Thu, Feb 11 2016, 12:51 pm

amother wrote:

Please pm me if you want to discuss my experience

Give her probiotics ASAP & get 2nd opinion from GI specialist

In the hospital they warn you, wash hands thoroughly or wear gloves when diapering, sanitizers are NOT effective for C-dif

yogabird

Thu, Feb 11 2016, 1:48 pm

Is she symptomatic? Babies can be healthy carriers for the c diff bacteria.

If she is, and you decide to go down the antibiotic route, speak to your doctor about an antibiotic taper.

My son had recurring c diff because he needed a ton of IV antibiotics for other stuff and the (vancomycin) taper is what knocked it out for good (I hope).

Definitely lots of probiotics, whether you decide to go the abx route or not.

yogabird

Thu, Feb 11 2016, 1:55 pm

To be clear(er), one round of abx will probably do the trick, and if you retest it will likely come back negative, but if she ever needs to go on other abx again, there's a good chance it will come right back.

Happydance

Thu, Feb 11 2016, 8:21 pm

You mentioned you were concerned about it returning...
Many people in hospitals/elderly get C-Diff often as they have compromised immune systems
hopefully, your 13 month old will get past this quickly and not be at risk for it again any more than anyone else

Some things to think about
Why did the doctor give clyndamycin for the strep throat? and not penicillin ?
It is unusual for a baby under 2 years to get strep to begin with...
Were there other common symptoms of strep along with the positive strep? for example very red throat?

about 20% of people will test positive for strep at any given time, without symptoms and dont need anti biotics.

amother

Chocolate

Fri, Feb 12 2016, 9:33 am

OP Here...
My mistake... It was not clyndamycin that she got, it was actually duracef. SHe idd have bad symtoms along with a very red throat.
At the same time we did her stool test we recultured her throat to see if shes a carrier, since it was the second time she had strept since shes born. Culture came back positive, so she is a strept carrier. I Dont know what the doctor will wanna do next time around that shes not feeling well and needs antibiotics... Id be very scared to give her, as not to have the c-diff come back ch"v.

lkwdgirl

Fri, Feb 12 2016, 9:40 am

My son was three months old when he had c-diff. It was horrible! His diapers were all bloody and he was in horrible pain. It came out that the omnicef he was on for an ear infection was the cause. It was about six weeks trip he tested negative. My pediatrician said he was too little too take any meds for it. Originally my Dr didn't know what was going on and sent us to the ER where they ran tests and one stupid nurse said that it could be leukemia. I totally flipped but chasdei Hashem she was sooooo wrong