In addition to the incalculable human cost of lives lost and crippled by C. diff, the financial toll of this preventable infection is enormous. In the United States alone, C. diff infections costs the health care system billions. The breakdown is:

• $1.3 billion in excess costs from hospital-acquired, hospital-onset cases

• $300 million in excess costs from hospital-acquired, post-discharge onset cases

• $2.2 billion in excess costs from nursing home onset cases

Combined, the United States spends $32 million every day treating C. diff associated-disease.