C Difficile Analysis

Clostridium difficile is a Gram-positive, spore-forming, rod-shaped bacillus that is renowned for being the leading cause of hospital-acquired diarrhea in adult patients. C. difficile is present as normal intestinal flora within 3% to 5% of healthy people2, while its spores are ubiquitous in the environment, especially in hospital settings. It grows at an optimal temperature and pH of 37ºC and 6.5–7.5 respectively.1 It is an obligate anaerobic as it thrives in the absence of oxygen. It is highly motile with the presence of peritrichous flagella, which are evenly spread out along its surface. As briefly mentioned above, this evolving pathogen produces endospores. The bacterium produces dormant spores, which are extremely hardy and resistant to antibiotics, the host’s innate immune system, and once shed into the environment through the host’s feces, they are resistant to unfavorable aerobic conditions3 as well as several types of bleach-free disinfectants, which are commonly used in hospitals.3 The spores will germinate under the favorable conditions of the intestinal tract, resulting in the multiplication of vegetative cells, colonizing in the gastrointestinal tract. The vegetative cells release two powerful exotoxins upon adherence to the epithelial cells of the GI tract. Pathogenic strains of C. difficile produce two exotoxins: toxin A and toxin B. Toxin A is an enterotoxin that causes fluid excretion, resulting in fluid accumulation and watery diarrhea. Toxin B is a potent

Clostridium difficile also known as C-diff is a pathogen. According to Doctor Michelle Wright, It lives harmlessly in the gut of many people. About three in hundred healthy adults and as many as seven in ten healthy babies have a number of c difficile bacteria living in their gut (2015). Healthy people normally have a certain number of c-diff bacterium living in their gut, but this bacterium is usually kept in check by all the other harmless bacteria that lives in our gastrointestinal tract. Clostridium difficile

The healthcare professional can expect to encounter various conditions within their scope of experience. Clostridium difficile represents one of the most common and challenging nosocomial infections that can cause life-threatening complications such as hypervolemia, sepsis, pain, and peritonitis (Grossman and Mager 155). The recognition, diagnosis, treatment and inhibition of transmission of this bacterium are imperative in order to limit infection and prevent death.

Ample literature has been published to elucidate the pervasive nature of Clostridium difficile and its relationship with inadequate health-care practices. Clostridium difficile-associated disease: New challenges from an established pathogen by Sunshine and McDonald, published in the Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine discusses the concern over Clostridium difficile. It includes a case report involving infection caused by the bacterium and important guidelines for prevention and treatment associated with the bacterium.

C. difficile is a spore-forming and strict anaerobe gram-positive bacillus [4], capable of excreting pathogenic toxins, as discussed below [3]. This spore forming ability is a method of bacterial persistence within the human body. C. difficile is able to resist and survive a variable environment when various other microbes cannot. Three important factors affecting the risk of CDI include the use of antibiotics, length of hospital-environment exposure and age [1]. The use of broad range antibiotics affects the composition and lively-hood of normal

Clostridium difficile is a gram-positive bacterium which causes diarrhoea. It also known as antibiotic associated diarrhoea and also pseudomembranous colitis. The bacterium secretes large protein toxin that also causes toxic mega colon. Clostridium difficile is caused by when a person is given one of the following antibiotics: Cephalosporin, penicillin (particularly Ampicillin or Amoxicillin), Clindamycin and Fluoroquinolone. The antibiotic will remove the entire normal flora in the colon. The lack of normal flora will make the person vulnerable to infection especially to Clostridium difficile because Clostridium difficile produces hardy spores

CDI cannot be treated with many antibiotics, and as early as 2000 another strain appeared that was resistant to even more antibiotics, including fluoroquinolones (“Antibiotic/Antimicrobial Resistance.”). This new strain creates more toxins and can show up in people not normally considered at risk for CDI infection, like those who have not been hospitalized or treated with antibiotics (“C. difficile infection.”). This aggressive strain only adds more danger to an already resistant bacteria. As antibiotics became more common, they were prescribed for thousands of common illnesses. Over time, Clostridium difficile has built up a resistance to antibiotics to become a major concern. Even more frightening, it has started to appear in the community. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control rate it as an urgent threat. Superbugs like CDI are becoming a more ever-present threat and we must continually work towards newer and more effective treatments to counteract the bacterias frightening ability to resist us (“Antibiotic/Antimicrobial Resistance.”). CDI is just one of many superbugs, however, and others pose just as great a

In 2011, there was an estimated 450,000 cases of Clostridium difficile infections in the United States. Of these cases, 83,000 were first occurrence cases and 29,300 cases resulted in death. The main method of transmission of C- diff is referred to as a nosocomial infection, which are infections that are acquired while admitted to a healthcare facility, such as a hospital or skilled nursing facility. There are several risk factors that make a patient susceptible to a CDI, however, three risks factors are particularly important. These factors are that a patient underwent a recent course of antibiotics, the patient was recently hospitalized, and the that the patient is over the age of sixty- five. An elderly person is more at risk because their immune system may be less competent, and they are at a higher risk of experiencing a health

Clostridium difficile is a bacterium that infects humans, animals, water, soil, feces and food products. Clostridium difficile also known as C. diff or C. difficile is an asymptomatic infection due to the spore-forming bacterium which causes inflammation of the colon. C. diff is very contagious; it is a microorganism that can be spread from person to person by touch or direct contact. Symptoms with severe infections cause watery diarrhea ten to fifteen times a day, rapid heart rate, blood or pus in stool, dehydration, kidney failure, increased white cell count and, abdominal cramping. Symptoms with mild to moderate infections cause watery diarrhea three to more times a day and abdominal cramping. Approximal half a million people get infected with C. diff each year in the United States.

Clostridim difficile was first isolated in1935 by George and his colleagues from a stool found in a healthy infant by the name of Hall and O’Toole (Heinlen and Ballard, 2010). Yet in 1978, C.difficile was known to be associated as disease in human’s antibiotic-associated diarrhea (Heinlen and Ballard, 2010). It is 2 types of C. difficile: one that exists in spore form and the other in vegetative form. Depending on the type of form it exist in, allows it to grow in a certain environment. It is also a gram positive rod bacterium. When Clostridim difficile exist in a spore form, it can live in harsh conditions and in common sterilization techniques (Heinlen and Ballard, 2010). When C. difficile exist in spore form, it will be resistant to temperature

Doctors have found a way to treat and/or cure clostridium difficile by putting feces from a healthy person into a pill. Clostridium difficile, also known as C-diff, affects about 500,000 people per year, killing 14,000. Symptoms include nausea, diarrhea, and cramping that can often be crippling. There are antibiotics that can kill the germ, but they take down some of the good bacterias too. Fecal transplants can restore the healthy bacteria, but are given in expensive, painful procedures called colonoscopies. Enemas have also been attempted, but the treatment is not always effective.

Among C. difficile, there are a number of virulence factors with varying mechanisms of pathogenicity. Most notably, this bacteria produces 1-3 toxins during a C. difficile infection (CDI): an enterotoxin (toxin A/ TcdA), a cytotoxin (toxin B/ TcdB), and a binary toxin (C. difficile transferase or CDT).1, 4, 5 CDI can occur with the presence of either toxin A, toxin B, or both; additionally, binary toxin is only found in particular strains and assists in bacterial adherence to host

Clostrium Difficile, also known as “C-Diff”, is a bacteria found in environmental things such as; air, soil, water and human and animal feces. It can also be found in food products most commonly processed meats. C-Diff has been linked to antibiotic-associated diarrhea and colitis. In 1994, J.G Bartlett researched that “C-Diff accounts for 10-25% of all cases of antibiotic-associated diarrhea, and virtually all cases of antibiotic pseudomembranous colitis.” Clostrium Difficile is most commonly associated with health care facilities including; hospitals, nursing homes and rehabilitation centers. The bacteria found in c-diff are passed when health care professionals do not wash their hands properly and touch foods, objects and surfaces. This is an important reason why we as health care professionals need to remember to put our hand washing into full affect at all times, remembering to wash our hands

difficile is a member of the domain Bacteria which consist of prokaryotic microorgaisms. C. difficile taxonomy is phylum Firmicutes, class Clostridia, order Clostridiales, family Peptostreptococcaceae, and species difficile (Brymer, 2007). C. difficile is a spore-forming, gram positive, anaerobic bacillus. Most strains are motile because of flagella. C. difficile has its resilience toward heat, environmental conditions and most disinfectants. Once a surface has been contaminated with spores of C. difficile they can live for months. Some risk factors for C. difficile are GI surgery, antimicrobial exposure, old age, immunocompromised conditions, serious illness, and long length of stay in any healthcare setting. There are three levels of C. difficile. It can be mild, severe, or

Most of the public have heard of broad-spectrum drugs, especially in terms of antibiotic resistance, because they fight a wide range of bacteria but also kills normal flora in the gut (Haddox, 2013). The loss of this gut flora can lead to an abnormal growth of harmful bacteria such as clostridium difficile (C-Diff). The four “C” antibiotics that have a high risk for patient to develop C-diff are clindamycin, cephalosporins, coamoxiclav, and ciprofloxacin (Haddox, 2013). These antibiotics have the highest risk of leading to C-diff development, however all antibiotics increase a patient’s likelihood of a C-diff infection. This effect can last up to 12 weeks post antibiotic administration (Haddox, 2013).