IS THIS THE REAL CAUSE OF COVID DEATHS C. DIFF INFECTIONS?

AlaskaJono

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FYI - sodium tripolyphosphate, or STPP for short is now commonly used for frozen seafood. Most sushi restaurants are using frozen. Not necessarily 'clean' seafood. Shrimp, crabs, scallops, fake crab, and some flaky fish are frozen with this stuff. I encountered this 2x in the last 5 years, one was frozen crab legs from Russia (at Costco in Aus!) and one was frozen scallops from Korea. They use it to 'retain moisture' (consumer pays more for water). Oh and it is a neurotoxin in 'larger' amounts. etc.. For me it was not so bad as msg effect, but changes the taste, strange kinda too salty taste, and some negative gut effect but mild and short duration. We love fresh seafood, and though it is expensive, where we live there are local fishmongers and one can buy fish from that day or before, and freeze it for the future if needs be.
 
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"The long-term health care burden after Clostridium difficile (C difficile) infection (CDI) is great for elderly patients. But even nonelderly patients are at risk for gastrointestinal symptoms for up to 2 years afterward, according to a new report.Jan 25, 2019"

 
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FYI - sodium tripolyphosphate, or STPP for short is now commonly used for frozen seafood. Most sushi restaurants are using frozen. Not necessarily 'clean' seafood. Shrimp, crabs, scallops, fake crab, and some flaky fish are frozen with this stuff. I encountered this 2x in the last 5 years, one was frozen crab legs from Russia (at Costco in Aus!) and one was frozen scallops from Korea. They use it to 'retain moisture' (consumer pays more for water). Oh and it is a neurotoxin in 'larger' amounts. etc.. For me it was not so bad as msg effect, but changes the taste, strange kinda too salty taste, and some negative gut effect but mild and short duration. We love fresh seafood, and though it is expensive, where we live there are local fishmongers and one can buy fish from that day or before, and freeze it for the future if needs be.
I have tasted that STPP in shrimp at restaurants. The shrimp isn't sweet or crisp. I knew it was a preservative, but didn't know it is a neurotoxin.
 

yerrag

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I have been reading about Clostridium Difficile because my husband has been diagnosed with it today. It is a "super bug" bacterial infection with a high mortality rate. The doctor said he got it from his last hospital visit for a spinal compression fracture. This is some scary stuff, but it is also suggested that it is under reported in Covid patients deaths. This is such a shocker to me in more ways than one!

"The dearth of studies regarding secondary infections, such as Clostridioides difficile, in COVID-19 patients makes it difficult to measure the effect of the pandemic on antimicrobial stewardship programs and on long term antimicrobial resistance. While increased awareness regarding personal hygiene and extensive use of protective equipment may lead to reductions of healthcare associated infections, the challenge of strictly isolating and managing COVID-19 patients in many healthcare systems, often in proximity to patients colonized with C. difficile, and the inevitable higher workload imposed on healthcare staff could lead to additional hospital transmissions. The increased use of antibiotics to treat COVID-19 may, inadvertently, have resulted in an under-reporting of C. difficile infection. Actually, Spigaglia (2020) has published an article expressing her opinion about the COVID-19 and the impact in elderly patients, who will probably become more susceptible to CDI. The author also demonstrates her concern about the low number of bacterial infections cases related to patients with Sars-Cov-2. To ensure appropriate treatment and to improve patient outcome, increased vigilance and improved diagnosis are both necessary. Given that future emerging viral diseases are highly likely, we would urge increased awareness of the issue and call for informed debate around how to implement effective measures to meet these challenges.

In conclusion, it seems highly likely that cases of CDI are being under-reported among COVID-19 patients and the increased use of antibiotics may, in part, be responsible."


"The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we practice medicine and lead our lives. In addition to pulmonary symptoms; COVID-19 as a syndrome has multisystemic involvement including frequent gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea. Due to microbiome alterations with COVID-19 and frequent antibiotic exposure, COVID-19 can be complicated by Clostridioides difficile infection. Co-infection with these two can be associated with a high risk of complications."


"Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) has emerged as a major health care–associated infection; incidence, hospitalizations, and mortality rates are increasing (1,2). Reported case-fatality rates are 6%–30% and seem to be rising."

I'm reading a book (perusing actually) about cell wall deficient bacteria and it talks about certain antibiotics inducing bacteria to develop cell wall deficient (CWD) forms. This form, having no cell wall, is more resistant to antibiotic treatment - because many antibiotics rely on destroying the cell wall of the bacteria. There's no mention of c. diff however, but mention of other bacteria in the clostridium genus.

Such forms of bacteria, as I understand, can pleomorph further into larger sizes, and I believe that in terrain conducive to their development to more pathogenic forms, can turn parasitic and fungal.

So it's not necessarily that excessive use of antibiotics in a general sense is causing resistance, but that the choice of antibiotics taken earlier induces bacteria to become cell wall deficient, and this causes it to be resistant, and develop further into higher pathogenicity to become saprophytic and parasitic.

Based on my understanding of pleomorphism and terrain theory, it's important to get the terrain back in a state that would allow the pathogen to devolve into a more benign state. It is at the parasitic state that the pathogen causes cancer, for that is the direction of the cycle of life and death, that if the host shows markers of ill health, the pathogen will do its job of cleaning up.

I don't think our conventional doctors understand evolutionary biology enough to help us. Here is something I found interesting reading:

 
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"Overall, there is little published evidenced supporting the use of brewers' yeast tablets in the treatment of C difficile infection. Because the tablets are non-viable any beneficial effect must be due to the action of components of the yeast rather than microbial competition within the gut. Animal studies, though, give little evidence to support this. Brewers' yeast tablets are widely used in UK hospitals. They are cheap, appear successful in many cases and are unlikely to cause harmful effects. Nonetheless, with the modern trend for evidence-based medicine, further research is still needed to demonstrate whether patients are receiving a probiotic or simply a source of B group vitamins."



"Saccharomyces boulardii (Sb), a nonpathogenic yeast, has been used to prevent recurrences of Clostridium difficile (C. diff) -associated diarrhea. A single report suggested that treatment with Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Sc), commonly called brewer's yeast (BY), facilitates treatment of persistent C. diff infection."

 
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C diff has a big variety of symptoms, long before the diarrhea kicks in. I am suspecting my husband's C diff is back.

"After treatment for cellulitis, I developed Clostridium difficile. I was treated and symptoms dissipated. I got Pfizer vaccine, had bad reaction, and now have C. diff colitis. I’ve been in extreme pain now almost a week. Can't sit, can't work, and it is difficult to sleep."

"I am a 23 year old female who has been otherwise pretty healthy. I got salmonella infection this past August from the onion outbreak and had to go through two rounds of antibiotics to get rid of the symptoms. I was feeling better until randomly one day I started with diarrhea and vomiting again and had sharp pains in my back, legs, and groin. I went to the emergency room (ER) to find out I had Clostridium difficile colitis. I went through 14 days of vancomycin and felt better for about a week after, only to relapse and go 14 more days on vancomycin."

"I tested positive for Clostridium difficile back in January and since then tested negative 3 times which is good, but I still feel so sick not with the going to bathroom but just don't feel right. Some days are good some bad, I wonder if this is normal after testing negative. I also think I got an ulcer from all this ordeal. When I eat now I get crazy pains above the belly button to breast, and it keeps me up at night. Last night I thought I was having a heart attack, it was so bad so I went to emergency but they would only check to make sure it is not my heart, and said to see my family doctor. Sometimes I feel like going crazy and feel like I will never get better."

 
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C-diff (Clostridioides difficile) is as its name suggests not easy to treat. My sister has treated it several times with Vancomycin and each time it has reoccurred months later. The table in the article below lists some other things, in addition to honey and black seed oil, for your to consider.


Edit - I see you already have this article. Best of luck,
It looks like I am gonna have to visit some of these home remedies...

"Recently, Roshan et al. [24] assayed the in vitro antimicrobial potential of natural onion and garlic juices (100% v/v), onion and garlic powders (20% w/v), ginger, artichoke, honey, cinnamon powder (20% w/v), turmeric powder (20% w/v), and aloe vera compounds against different pathogenic strains of C. difficile (via disk diffusion method and microdilution test). Results revealed that, among the assayed products, garlic juice (100% v/v) was the most effective in inhibiting C. difficile growth (MIC ≈ 9.4 mg/mL) and even showed similar inhibiting potential to that obtained by vancomycin treatment (30 µg/disc; control) (≈30 mm inhibition zone, tested by means of Kirby–Bauer diffusion disc methodology). Moreover, aloe vera (14–19 mm inhibition zone) and artichoke products (12.7–13.9 mm inhibition zone) showed high antimicrobial potential against C. difficile."
 
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"Investigators from the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, have discovered that a common food additive, trehalose (an artificial sugar frequently derived from mushrooms or seaweed), can be linked with the increase and severity of outbreaks involving 2 strains of Clostridium difficile (C. difficile)."

 
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"Non-Compliant Foods
  • Foods high in insoluble fiber
  • Cruciferous vegetables (such as cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and broccoli), turnips, beets, carrots, cabbage
  • Raw vegetables
  • Fried or greasy foods
  • Fatty foods (such as mayonnaise or fatty meats)
  • Spicy foods
  • Whole wheat, wheat bran, wheat cereals
  • Rye
  • Unnatural oils (such as margarine, Olean, or Olestra)
  • Nuts and seeds (including nut butter)
  • Unpeeled apples, blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries
  • Prunes, prune juice, dates
  • Sugar substitutes like sorbitol and xylitol
  • Large amounts of sweet foods, such as cakes and cookies (the sugar and fat may worsen diarrhea)
  • Peas (have both soluble and insoluble fiber, but may be best to avoid due to insoluble fiber content)
  • Caffeine"
 
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"C. difficile is appreciably susceptible to Manuka honey and this may offer an effective way of treating infections caused by the organism."

 
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"Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is a leading hospital-acquired infection and a major cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhea. Epidemiological evidence has suggested that the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen, naproxen and indomethacin, increases risk for CDI.Jan 17, 2019"

 
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"Results​

NSAIDs were administered in 14% (n=80) of the 568 hospitalized visits for an average of 2.5 days after the CDI diagnosis. All-cause mortality was high in patients who did not receive NSAIDs as compared to those who did receive NSAIDs (16.6% vs 12.5%, p 0.354). Patients who were prescribed NSAIDs were more likely to have toxic mega-colon as compared to those who were not prescribed NSAIDs (2.5% vs 0.6%, p 0.094). "

 
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"Antibiotics can disrupt the normal balance in your intestines. Your risk increases if you have taken antibiotics for a long period of time or if the antibiotic is broad-spectrum (treats a wide variety of bacteria).. People who are 65 years of age or older are at greater risk of a C. diff.Jan 3, 2020"
 
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"The increasing incidence of a difficult-to-control bacterial illness is leading researchers to suspect that contaminated foods might be contributing to the problem.

Clostridium difficile, known as "C. diff," can cause a serious infection that is responsible for 14,000 American deaths annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It's estimated there are about 500,000 U.S. cases of C. diff infection annually, and that about 3 to 5 percent of healthy adults are carriers of toxic C. diff bacteria but experience no symptoms."

"Rodriguez-Palacios, who is now a postdoctoral scholar at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, has conducted numerous studies on C. diff and its presence in food products, particularly ground meat. His doctoral research under LeJeune was on the "Ecology and Epidemiology of Human Pathogen Clostridium difficile in Foods, Food Animals and Wildlife."

"C. diff is found throughout the environment, in water, rivers, soil, food, everywhere," said Rodriguez-Palacios. "People can pick it up from anywhere, but we are more exposed to food than to these other things."

"Foods that are ready to eat or that we typically eat raw are more likely to be a problem," Rodriguez-Palacios said. "But we also know that a small number of food animals have C. diff at the time of slaughter. There are now recent indications of food contamination during processing."

C. diff grows at temperatures between 77 and 113 degrees F. However, the bacterium produces resistant spores that permit it to survive in harsh environments. The spores aren't inactivated until they reach a temperature of 163 to 185 degrees F for 15 minutes. “Even higher cooking temperatures are needed to be on the safe side,” Rodriguez-Palacios said.

"The problem is, we don't typically cook our foods to that high of a temperature," LeJeune said. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's cooking guidelines say to cook cuts or roasts of beef, pork, lamb and veal to a minimum internal temperature of 145 degrees F; ground beef, pork, lamb and veal to 160 degrees F; and all poultry to 165 degrees F."

 
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"C diff presence in foods in both North America and Europe. From their analysis, they said it is clear that C. diff can be found in retail beef, veal, pork and poultry; seafood and fish; and in vegetables. "Foods that are ready to eat or that we typically eat raw are more likely to be a problem," Rodriguez-Palacios said."

 
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A total of 2538 environmental samples were collected over the study period. These included samples obtained from homes (n = 1079), parks (n = 491), chain stores (n = 225), fast food restaurants (n = 123), other commercial stores (n = 172), and hospitals (n = 448). Overall, 418 environmental isolates grew toxigenic C difficile (16.5%; P < .001) most commonly from parks (24.6%), followed by homes (17.1%), hospitals (16.5%), commercial stores (8.1%), chain stores (7.6%), and fast food restaurants (6.5%). A similar distribution of ribotypes was observed between clinical and environmental isolates with the exception that ribotype 027 was more common in clinical isolates compared with environmental isolates (P < .001).

Conclusions

"We identified a high prevalence of toxigenic C difficile from community environs that were similar ribotypes to clinical isolates. These findings suggest that interventions beyond isolation of symptomatic patients should be targeted for prevention of C difficile infection."

 

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