Question 169

Question:

A patient being treated with clindamycin for aspiration pneumonia develops diarrhea. The stool contains a toxin that kills cultured epithelial cells. Stool culture grows an anaerobic gram-positive rod. The same organism is cultured from his bedpan. Which of the following is most likely to sterilize the bedpan?

Correct Answer: D.  Exposure to saturated steam (121°C) for 15 minutes

The bacteria in question is Clostridium difficile (the most common cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhea). C. difficile is a anaerobic gram positive rod that forms spores. These spores are only destroyed by autoclaving (exposure to saturated steam for 15 minutes, option D), because the spore shell is resistant to other forms of sterilization.
As a side note, using alcohol based cleaners (like Purell) will not sterilize your hands after you see a patient with C. difficile infection. Therefore, it is important to physically wash your hands with soap and water, in order to mechanically wash the spores off your hands.