My aunt is in the hospital with c diff. she said to not come see her bc id have to wear a gown/mask...since she is contagious. how long is she contagious for? i thought once someone takes antibiotics for any infection they aren't contagious. thanx?

C. difficile is a bad bug. Antibiotics do NOT make a patient non-contagious with just the 1st pill. As long as bacteria are present, the patient is contagious. It may take a week or longer for your aunt to no longer be contagious. If you follow the hospital's isolation rules, both you and your aunt should be OK.

The gown & mask routine is more a hospital safety protocol to make sure personnel do not acquire the germ and pass it to other patients. The germ is a bowel germ and as long as families follow normal hygienic practices, I wouldn't consider her a risk to others. Please clarify any specific issues she may have that would affect the family in a discussion with her doc.