We did it! Once again, the Peggy Lillis Foundation for C. diff Education and Advocacy (PLF) surpassed our goal of reaching 20 million people during C. diff Awareness Month. Through hard work, growing partnerships, and the help of thousands of supporters on social media, we increased our reach by 43 percent over 2022.

See C. diff Prevented

This year, our C. diff Awareness Month theme was “See C. diff Prevented.” Since gut dysbiosis resulting from antibiotics is the primary precipitating factor of a C. diff infection, there are many ways to engage in prevention. We highlighted “7 Opportunities to Prevent C. diff Infections”, ranging from avoiding unnecessary antibiotic use to receiving one of the two recently approved microbiome restoration therapies to prevent recurrences. 

The practices that help prevent C. diff can also help combat growing antimicrobial resistance, from ensuring patients are current on their vaccinations to infection control and antibiotic stewardship.

See C. diff Results 

We were thrilled to reach over 23 million people this year with basic information about C. diff and the best ways to prevent an initial or recurrent infection. With 60 percent of Americans (over 200 million people) unaware of the most common healthcare-associated infection, building baseline knowledge of C. diff remains critical. Reaching 20 million people with a limited budget is not easy. With so many outlets, social media, and streaming services competing for our attention, breaking through to so many people is challenging. 

We were able to reach 23 million people through a combination of social media, earned media (e.g., articles in news and magazine outlets), and through a new partnership with Medscape. Medscape created and shared a ton of content throughout November and helped us cap the month with a live-streamed discussion between our executive director and WebMD’s Dr. Neha Pathak. 

State of C. diff Town Hall 

On November 15, we hosted our second State of C. diff Virtual Town Hall. Led by PLF Board member Dr Paul Feuerstadt, the program featured presentations by Dr. Stacy Kahn of Boston Children’s Hospital, Dr. Sahil Khanna of the Mayo Clinic, C. diff survivor and advocate Maryann Webb, and PLF’s Executive Director Christian John Lillis. More than 300 people registered for or watched a recording of the town hall. Of that, more than 50 percent were C. diff patients, survivors, and caregivers, 19 percent were healthcare workers, and 15 percent were industry representatives. We thank Nestle Health Science and Seres Therapeutics for sponsoring this important event and NHS’ Bob Griffing for welcoming our participants. 

Gratitude

We are grateful to the sponsors of this year’s “See C. diff” campaign: 

Thank you to our partners who developed and shared C diff Awareness Month content, including ContagionLive, Medscape, National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, NTMInfo & Research, Pharmacy Times, and Sepsis Alliance.