TAMPA, Fla. /Florida Newswire/ — The C Diff Foundation announced today that their organization has implemented a global campaign to raise awareness of Clostridium difficile infection (C.difficile) clinical trials, clinical studies, clinical research and observational studies evaluating interventions for C. difficile prevention, treatments, and environmental safety.
In the USA: Nearly half a million Americans suffer from Clostridium difficile (C. diff.) infections in a single year according to a study released in 2015 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Approximately 29,000 patients died within 30 days of the initial diagnosis of C. difficile. Of those, about 15,000 deaths were estimated to be directly attributable to C. difficile infections making C. difficile a very important cause of infectious disease death in the United States.
“Clostridium difficile infections are not only the most common cause of healthcare-acquired infections in the United States but also very common in the community in younger patients who previously were thought to be less susceptible to C. difficile. The rate of recurrent C. difficile infections is increasing tremendously and this increase is higher than the rate of primary C. difficile infections,” stated Sahil Khanna, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Director of the C. difficile Clinic, Fecal Microbiota Transplantation program and C. difficile related Clinical Trials, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN.
Dr. Khanna also added, “It is imperative and important for clinical trials to be done to advance the development of new treatments, new medications, and new ways to prevent and treat Clostridium difficile infections.”
Individuals volunteer to participate in clinical trials in hopes of improving their own health, to access treatments that might not be available otherwise, often because they are new and not yet widely available. They help others by contributing to advances in medicine. There can also be potential risks participating in clinical trials and clinical studies. All of the known risks associated with a particular trial and or study will be discussed during the informed consent process. It will be thoroughly explained in the informed consent document that a volunteer will receive from the research staff prior to participating in any study.
To learn more about clinical research (e.g., Clostridium difficile, C.difficile) visit the U.S. Food and Drug Administration www.fda.gov or telephone 1-800-835-4709, The National Institutes of Health (NIH) www.nih.gov and ClinicalTrials.gov.
“Clinical trials are vital to improving our knowledge about how best to prevent and treat C. difficile infections. Informing patients of clinical trials is important, and in recent years several clinical trials have led to significant improvements in the treatments available for patients with C. difficile infections,” stated Mark Wilcox, MD, FRCPath, Consultant Microbiologist, Head of Microbiology and Academic Lead of Pathology Leeds Teaching Hospitals, Professor of Medical Microbiology University of Leeds Institute of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Lead on Clostridium difficile for Public Health England, UK.
About the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA):
The FDA is responsible for protecting the public health by assuring that foods are safe, wholesome, sanitary and properly labeled; ensuring that human and veterinary drug, and vaccines and other biological products and medical devices intended for human use are safe and effective. FDA’s responsibilities extend to the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and other U.S. territories and possessions.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH):
The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the nation’s medical research agency making important discoveries that improve health and save lives.
About ClinicalTrials.gov
ClinicalTrials.gov is a Web-based resource that provides patients, their family members, health care professionals, researchers, and the public with easy access to information on publicly and privately supported clinical studies on a wide range of diseases and conditions.
About the C Diff Foundation:
The C Diff Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit, founded in 2012 with a global mission of providing education for Clostridium difficile infection prevention, treatments, environmental safety and support through research being conducted by the government, industry, and academia and provide better advocacy on behalf of patients, healthcare professionals, and researchers worldwide.
For information please visit https://cdifffoundation.org/.
News Source: C Diff Foundation
