Contact Precautions for Patients with Clostridium Difficile

Gonzalo Bearman, MD, MPH, professor of medicine, and hospital epidemiologist, Department of Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Virginia Commonwealth University, discusses contact precautions for patients with Clostridium difficile.

Interview Transcript (slightly modified for readability)

“Contact precautions [for patients with Clostridium difficile] continue to be a, rather, controversial thing, but in general, most doctors will agree that contact precautions, at the very least, should be until the end of the diarrheal syndrome.

Many authorities are now advocating using contact precautions until, not only the end of the diarrhea, but also for the duration of the hospitalization.”