Boan, Rebecca-Lynn
(2023)
Endoscopic Sampling to Determine Clostridium difficile Prevalence and Quality of Endoscopic Processing.
Master's Thesis, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
Clostridium difficile is a Gram-positive anaerobic bacterium that is the cause of one of the most significant healthcare-acquired infections. Within the last 20 years, the prevalence of pathogenic strains of C. diff as well as antibiotic resistant strains have increased drastically, and several epidemics have occurred. While previously thought to be a healthcare-acquired illness, there has been a drastic increase in community-acquired C. diff. 22 million gastrointestinal endoscopies happen each year making it one of the most important outpatient surgeries completed. Endoscopes are reusable and because of this, there are major cleaning protocols put into place to ensure pathogens are not transferring from one patient to another. There has been some speculation that C. diff may be spreading among otherwise healthy individuals. Our project wanted to ensure that endoscope reprocessing procedures were adequate in eliminating any possible threat of C. diff transmission. In this project, we also measured the prevalence of C. diff within the community by measuring patients who were colonized with C. diff at the time of their endoscopy. In this study, we discovered that the current cleaning processes were efficient in eliminating C. diff bacteria that were present after surgery. We also were able to determine that around 23% of patients were colonized with C. diff before their surgery.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
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| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
|
| ETD Committee: |
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| Date: |
9 May 2023 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Defense Date: |
11 April 2023 |
| Approval Date: |
9 May 2023 |
| Submission Date: |
25 April 2023 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Number of Pages: |
43 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
School of Public Health > Infectious Diseases and Microbiology |
| Degree: |
MS - Master of Science |
| Thesis Type: |
Master's Thesis |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Endoscopies, Colonoscopy, C. diff, Clostridium difficile, Infection Control |
| Date Deposited: |
10 May 2023 02:38 |
| Last Modified: |
10 May 2023 02:38 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/44721 |
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