c-difficile information

8/11/2019 C-difficile information

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http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/c-difficile/DS00736

Definition

By Mayo Clinic staff

Clostridim difficile! often called C. difficile or "C. diff!" is a #acterim that can case symptoms ran$in$ from

diarrhea to life-threatenin$ inflammation of the colon. %llness from C. difficile most commonly affects olderadlts in hospitals or in lon$ term care facilities and typically occrs after se of anti#iotic medications.

%n recent years! C. difficile infections ha&e #ecome more fre'ent! more se&ere and more difficlt to treat. (ach

year! tens of thosands of people in the )nited States $et sic* from C. difficile! incldin$ some otherwise healthy

people who aren+t hospitali,ed or ta*in$ anti#iotics.

Mild illness cased #y C. difficile may $et #etter if yo stop ta*in$ anti#iotics. More se&ere symptoms re'ire

treatment with a different anti#iotic.

Symptoms

By Mayo Clinic staff

Some people who ha&e C. difficile ne&er #ecome sic*! tho$h they can still spread the infection. C. difficile

illness sally de&elops drin$ or shortly after a corse of anti#iotics. Bt si$ns and symptoms may not appear

for wee*s or e&en months afterward.

he most common symptoms of mild to moderate C. difficile disease are:

atery diarrhea three or more times a day for two or more days

Mild a#dominal crampin$ and tenderness

%n more se&ere cases! C. difficile cases the colon to #ecome inflamed colitis or to form patches of raw tissethat can #leed or prodce ps psedomem#ranos colitis. Si$ns and symptoms of se&ere infection inclde:

atery diarrhea 10 to 12 times a day

#dominal crampin$ and pain! which may #e se&ere

4e&er

Blood or ps in the stool

5asea

Dehydration

oss of appetite

ei$ht loss

When to see a doctor

Many people ha&e loose stools drin$ or shortly after anti#iotic therapy. See yor doctor if yor symptoms last

more than three days or yo ha&e fe&er! se&ere pain or crampin$! or #lood in yor stool! or more than three

#owel mo&ements a day.

Causes
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C. difficile #acteria can #e fond thro$hot the en&ironment in soil! air! water! and hman and

animal feces. small nm#er of healthy people natrally carry the #acteria in their lar$e intestine. BtC. difficile is most common in hospitals and other health care facilities! where a mch hi$her

percenta$e of people carry the #acteria.

C. difficile #acteria are passed in feces and spread to food! srfaces and o#8ects when people who are infected

don+t wash their hands thoro$hly. he #acteria prodce hardy spores that can persist in a room for wee*s or

months. %f yo toch a srface contaminated with C. difficile! yo may then n*nowin$ly in$est the #acteria.

9eople in $ood health don+t sally $et sic* from C. difficile. or intestines contain millions of #acteria! many

of which help protect yor #ody from infection. Bt when yo ta*e an anti#iotic to treat an infection! the dr$

can destroy some of the normal! helpfl #acteria as well as the #acteria casin$ the illness. ithot eno$h

healthy #acteria! C. difficile can 'ic*ly $row ot of control. he anti#iotics that most often lead to C. difficile

infections inclde floro'inolones! cephalosporins! clindamycin and penicillins.

;nce esta#lished! C. difficile can prodce to


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Complications of C. difficile infections inclde:

Dehydration"Se&ere diarrhea can lead to a si$nificant loss of flids and electrolytes. his ma*es it

difficlt for yor #ody to fnction normally and can case #lood pressre to drop to dan$erosly low

le&els.

Kidney fai!ure"%n some cases! dehydration can occr so 'ic*ly that *idney fnction deteriorates

*idney failre.

A ho!e in your !ar#e intestine $%o&e! perforation'"his reslts from e


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)ro%iotics

9ro#iotics are or$anisms! sch as #acteria and yeast! which help restore a healthy #alance to the intestinal tract.

natral yeast called Saccharomyces #olardii! in con8nction with anti#iotics! has pro&ed effecti&e in helpin$

pre&ent recrrent C. difficile infections.

Sur#ery

4or people with se&ere pain! or$an failre or inflammation of the linin$ of the a#dominal wall! sr$ery to

remo&e the diseased portion of the colon may #e the only option.

Recurrent disease

#ot one-forth of people with C. difficile $et sic* a$ain! either #ecase the initial infection ne&er went away

or #ecase they+re reinfected with a different strain of the #acteria. reatment for recrrent disease may inclde:

nti#iotics! which may in&ol&e one or more corses of a medication! a lon$er corse of treatment or an

anti#iotic $i&en once e&ery two days

9ro#iotics! sch as S. #olardii! $i&en alon$ with the anti#iotic medication

@eferences

Aelly C9! et al. 9atient information: nti#iotic-associated diarrhea Clostridim difficile.

http://www.ptodate.com. ccessed 5o&. 3! =00.

1. Bartlett . 5arrati&e re&iew: he new epidemic of Clostridim difficile-associated enteric disease.nnals of %nternal Medicine. =006E1F2:72.

=. Aelly C9! et al. reatment of anti#iotic-associated diarrhea cased #y Clostridim difficile.


3. Aelly C9! et al. Clostridim difficile - More difficlt than e&er. 5ew (n$land ornal of Medicine.

=00E32G:1G3=.

F. aMont . Clinical manifestations and dia$nosis of Clostridim difficile infection.


2. Drai @. (pidemiolo$y! patho$enesis! and mana$ement of Clostridim difficile infection. Di$esti&eDisease Science. =007E2=:=G2.

6. Mona$han ! et al. @ecent ad&ances in Clostridim difficile-associated disease. t. =00E27:20.

7. Snenshine @! et al. Clostridim difficile-associated disease: 5ew challen$es from an esta#lished

patho$en. Cle&eland Clinic ornal of Medicine. =006E73:17.

. %nformation for healthcare pro&iders. Centers for Disease Control and 9re&ention.

http://www.cdc.$o&/ncidod/dh'p/idHCdiff4IH>C9.html. ccessed March =! =00G.G. Centers for Disease Control and 9re&ention! et al. ideline for hand hy$iene in health-care settin$s.

MM@ @ecommendations and @eports. =00=E21:@@-16. http://www.cdc.$o&/mmwr/9D4/rr/rr2116.pdf.

ccessed March =! =00G.

Stool transplant fecal #acteriotherapy to restore healthy intestinal #acteria #y placin$ donor stool in

yor colon. ltho$h this is rarely done in practice! research has shown stool transplant to #e helpfl in

selected cases.

c-difficile information

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