Dr. Teena Chopra discusses the global need to do more to prevent healthcare-associated infections like C difficile in vulnerable patient populations.
Contagion Community Episode 7
“Usually for antibiotic awareness you have a week,” said Dr. Teena Chopra, “But for C diff a whole month has been dedicated, for a reason.”
This latest episode of Contagion Community goes live during C difficile Awareness Month and Antimicrobial Awareness Week. As Chopra explains, too often the people most affected by a lack of vigilance in these areas already experience marginalization and discrimination.
“We are all global citizens, and having that uniform, consistent health care for all is where we need to move toward,” said Chopra.
Teena Chopra, MD, MPH is the Corporate Medical Director of Hospital Epidemiology at Detroit Medical Center, as well as a professor at the Wayne State University School of Medicine.
Chopra credits several mentors as inspiring her to specialize in infectious disease. Living and working in Detroit, MI, she has seen firsthand how infectious diseases can ravage underserved populations, moving her to practice where she’s most needed.
As Chopra emphasizes, C diff causes an estimated half a million infections a year and over a billion dollars in expenses in the US alone.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) classifies Clostridioides difficile (C diff) as an urgent public health threat.
However, until the disease touches their lives, the general public is largely unaware of its prevalence or even what C diff is. “We, as the health care community, need to raise more awareness for C diff,” said Chopra.
Listen in as Chopra discusses treatment regimens for C difficile infection (CDI), as well as the populations disproportionately affected by this debilitating disease.
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