Two TikTokers have gone viral for warning against the bacteria C. diff, which one says is having an uptick in cases.
Mars, 20, (@m4r5hi) has personal experience with C. diff. In their video, they say they’ve been dealing with repeated C. diff infections for the past year and a half.
“In April 2024, I was hospitalized for a week,” they say. “I had sepsis. They found C. diff and they also found Mycoplasma hominis inside my body.”
They say they healed with no problems until they got an infected tooth, for which they had to take amoxicillin, and the symptoms started again.
“These symptoms included vomiting, diarrhea,” they say. They also mention that their stool smelled “sweet and foul.” They say they experienced stomach cramping and what felt like their stomach burning. “I’ve also developed POTS because of this,” they say.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, “Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) is a condition that causes a number of symptoms when you transition from lying down to standing up, such as a fast heart rate, dizziness and fatigue. While there’s no cure, several treatments and lifestyle changes can help manage the symptoms of POTS.”
A warning against public bathrooms
“I cannot share a bathroom with other people until I clear this,” Mars continues. “And that brings me to another point: Before I knew I had C. diff, I was acting completely normal. I was swimming in the pool with your children and your elderly people. I was at the beach with you. I was going to bathrooms and [expletive] all over the place. … And um, this is very contagious and very expensive to treat.”
They say the first treatment doctors will give you is likely vancomycin, which didn’t work for them the two times they tried it. Now they’re taking a medicine called Dificid. They say it took three months to get the medication because each pill is $278 and the entire pack is around $5,000.
“I will have irreversible damage to my guts because of this,” they say.
To close their video, they remind viewers to wash their hands, avoid swimming if they have diarrhea, “be careful with who and what you’re around” if they’re taking antibiotics, bleach surfaces, and stop sharing things with people.
“Stop pooping in public bathrooms!!” their on-screen caption warns.
More PSAs
TikToker Sheena (@flygirlsheena) issued the same warning in her viral video.
The Orlando, Florida, creator says, “Y’all, there is an uptick in C. diff cases and if you don’t know what C. diff is, it’s a bacteria that causes colitis—highly, highly contagious.”
She warns that the bacteria lie dormant in public restrooms, among other places.
“You can become septic and you can pass away from it,” she warns.
She says that in addition to washing your hands to protect yourself, you can use Lysol travel disinfectant wipes. She says she personally likes to use 91% isopropyl alcohol, which she keeps in 2-oz spray bottles since she travels a lot.
“I’m spraying on door handles in the bathroom; I’m spraying on the toilet covers; I’m spraying on the toilet,” she says. “And y’all, it doesn’t matter if you’re sitting on that toilet seat or not because our bodies, somehow and someway, rub against things.”
What is C. diff?
According to the CDC, C. diff is “a germ that causes diarrhea and colitis (an inflammation of the colon) and can be life-threatening.”
How do you get C. diff?
A C. diff infection can happen to anyone, but it most commonly affects people who are taking antibiotics or have recently taken them.
Other risk factors include:
- Being 65 or older
- A recent hospital or nursing home stay
- A weakened immune system
- Previous C. diff infection or known exposure to the germs
C. diff is often found in healthcare environments, likely because people carrying C. diff receive treatment in those facilities. The germs can spread through stool, but the bacteria are also found in the environment to the point that it’s not uncommon to find C. diff germs in the home, even when no one in the home has been infected with C. diff.
The CDC notes, “When C. diff germs are outside the body, they become spores. These spores are an inactive form of the germ and have a protective coating allowing them to live for months or years on surfaces and in the soil. The germs become active again when you swallow these spores and they reach the intestines.”
Healthy people don’t often get C. diff, even if the spores reach their intestines. People with a weakened immune system or who have recently taken antibiotics are more likely to be infected.
What are the symptoms and complications?
Symptoms include diarrhea, fever, stomach tenderness or pain, loss of appetite, and nausea. Common complications include dehydration and colitis, while rarer complications include sepsis, a serious intestinal condition like toxic megacolon, and death.
How can I protect myself?
C. diff can live on people’s skin and can be transferred from person to person by touch. One way to prevent the spread is to wash your hands with soap and water every time you use the bathroom and before you eat.
Take showers with soap to remove any C. diff germs from your body. If you have C. diff and are experiencing diarrhea, try to use a separate bathroom from the other people in your household. If you cannot, make sure the commonly touched surfaces are clean before another person uses the bathroom.
The CDC provides a list of products hospitals use to prevent C. diff, which you can use in your home to clean the following surfaces: doorknobs, electronics, refrigerator handles, toilet flushers, and toilet seats.
Regarding laundry, you should wash bed linens, towels, household linens, and clothing, especially underwear.
If the infected person may have touched them, you should wash these things before someone else uses them. If something has visible stool, you should rinse well first and then wash.
How to properly wash
- Use the hottest water that is safe for the items.
- Use chlorine bleach if you can do so without damaging the items.
- Consider wearing gloves.
- Always wash your hands with soap and water after handling the laundry, even if you wore gloves.
You can dry clean laundry worn by a person with C. diff but dry cleaning is not as effective at killing spores as other methods, so only do this if the clothes cannot be machine-washed.
If you’re in a healthcare setting, you should make sure professionals clean their hands before and after caring for you. If you don’t see them doing so, you can ask them to clean their hands.
@m4r5hi #cdiff #infection #dificid #vancomycin #sepsis ♬ original sound – mars
The Mary Sue contacted Mars via TikTok comment and direct message. It contacted Sheena via TikTok comment.
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