Despite being anti-septic, hospitals are still filled with the largest number of diseases, bacteria, infections, viruses, afflictions and the like than any other place. No matter how careful people are, some of these can get through protection and cause rampage among people who are already suffering from one disease or another.

In light of a recent study, it seems that the most common ailment people get from hospitals is diarrhea. Hospital-contracted diarrhea is caused by a bacterium called Clostridium difficile, a cause as deadly as it is common. The study, conducted by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, has shown that a worrisome 13 out of 1,000 hospital patients are infected by the widespread bacterium Clostridium difficile.

Demographic statistics have shown that the U.S. population is getting older – and with age comes frailty, proneness to a series of afflictions and a weaker immune system. Consequently, more and more people will be contaminated with Clostridium difficile. Taking these factors into consideration, it is safe to say that the number of casualties resulted from infection with this bacterium will rise soon, at least in the United States. The problem with Clostridium difficile is that it can cause anything from the common diarrhea to the much more dangerous bowel perforation.

Bacteria such as the Clostridium dificile are not the same as natural bacteria, and are not killed by antibiotics. Germicides, used for environmental cleaning, also do not neutralize the C. difficile. The solution seems to be bleach. However, until the patients are diagnosed, everyone who came in contact with them may have already been infected with C. difficile themselves.

In other countries, drug-resistant forms of Staphylococcus aureus are starting to develop and are affecting patients just as much as C. difficile is in the United States.