Clostridium Sporulation

Clostridium difficile is a gram positive, spore forming anaerobic bacillus, which may or may not carry the genes for toxin A-B production (Nipa, 2010). These two types of protein exotoxins produced by the Clostridium difficile bacillus, toxin A and toxin B, can have an infectious form and a non-active, non-infectious form (Grossman, 2010). The infectious form can survive for a short duration of time in the environment. The spores can survive for a longer period of time in the environment and are not infectious unless and until they are ingested or are transformed into an infectious state (Nipa, 2010).

Many Americans die each year from complications connected to Clostridium difficile. It can ill a significant number of individuals as well as animals. The Clostridium difficile infection is the result of poor hygiene, misuse, overuse of antibiotics and an aging population. In this paper I will be discussing the following topics, what clostridium difficile means, what it causes, signs and symptoms, complications, treatment and the prevention.

Contact precautions include: the patients being placed in private rooms, performing proper hand hygiene with antimicrobial soap and water, using friction for 15 seconds, and using gloves and gowns during patient care (Keske and Letizia 332). “One should also ensure adequate cleaning and disinfection of environmental surfaces and reusable devices. The uses of both buffered and buffered phosphate hypochlite solutions (bleach) have been shown to decrease the rate of C. difficile contamination and helps in reducing Clostridium Difficile associated disease (CDAD) rates” (Patel 104).

Clostridium difficile infection is a suprainfection cause by prolong use of antibiotics. Board spectrum antibiotic such as Penicillins, clindamycin, and cephalosporins are the antimicrobial drugs most commonly associated with C difficile colitis. According to Owens, in his research, C. difficile is primarily acquired in hospitals. Spread by spores, it can colonize a patient’s gut after helpful gut bacteria are killed by antibiotics. Its toxins can cause severe diarrhea and colitis, and it can be fatal (Owens 2013). On the other hand Kim in his research agreed clostridium difficile infection has been considered a hospital-acquired infection. However, a recent population-based study found 41% of CDIs were actually community acquired. It is becoming apparent that community acquired CDI affects populations previously thought to be at low risk; younger patients and patients who had no exposure to antibiotics in the 12 weeks before the infection. Thus, it is necessary to advocate and teach patient about

This test is performed to check for Clostridium difficile bacteria in your stool. Being infected with this toxin can result in damage to the lining of your colon and may lead to colitis.

Each year in the United States, many people require hospitalization due to various medical reasons. Often times, patients must undergo a course of antibiotics to treat the medical condition that warranted the hospitalization. The combination of the necessity to be admitted to a health care facility along with the administration of an antibiotic may result in a Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of a CDI, including an overview of the microbiology of Clostridium Difficile (C- diff), as well as the epidemiology, pathophysiology, signs, symptoms, treatment and prevention of the infection.

Hospital and other health care facilities should set strict guidelines on infection control to sanitary officers, caregivers and family members as long as they come in-contact with an inpatient.

Clostridium perfringens are bacteria that produce harmful toxins to humans. Clostridium perfringens and its toxins are found everywhere in the environment, including soil, dust and, animals. but human infection is most likely to come from eating food that is contaminated with Clostridium perfringens in it. Food poisoning from Clostridium perfringens is very common, but is typically not too severe, and is often mistaken for the “24-hour flu”.

Clostridium difficile is a Gram-positive anaerobe bacteria meaning it does not have the ability to grow in the presence of oxygen. There are two different exotoxins produced by the organism Clostridium difficile, toxin A and toxin B. The organism produces spores which are the contagious particles of the bacterium. These spores are found all over our environment and in feces of both animals and humans. It is very hard to annihilate these spores due to them being resistant to alcohol, disinfectants, heat and radiation (Awad, 2014). Infection by C. difficile occurs through the fecal-oral route during ingestion of spores. As these spores pass through the gastrointestinal system, bile acids and other substances stimulate their germination. Toxins may be produced depending on the microflora that exists in the gastrointestinal tract. Colonization and proliferation, which are likely to involve numerous surface structures and adhesions, primarily occur in the suitably anaerobic

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

A new strain of Clostridium botulinum has been discovered that has caused many problems. To begin, this discovery is important as this strain of Clostridium botulinum is responsible for the deadly illness, botulism. As a result, the scientists that discovered this new strain, they decided to keep their findings to themselves and not to to the public. Not to mention that another reason why this new strain of Clostridium botulinum is important is because it is one of the first to be identified in 40 years. Ultimately, the finding of the new strain of Clostridium botulinum is important as it could affect the future effectively.

There are many bacteria that do not go through cellular respiration; there are also some that do. These tiny organisms live in every habitat, including the air we breathe. Prokaryotes are grouped according to their need for oxygen. Obligate anaerobes are prokaryotes that cannot live in the presence of oxygen. In fact, exposure to oxygen for even a short length of time will kill these prokaryotes. They produce methane and are found at the bottom of lakes, in marshy areas, and in the digestive tracts of herbivores and omnivores. Bacteroides are a species of obligate anaerobic bacteria that live in mammalian intestines and help break down lipids and proteins into their smaller subunits, monomers. Clostridium difficile bacteria are often found

Clostridium perfringens is an anaerobic, spore-forming bacterium that can be found in soil, feces, and water. There are four major toxins (alpha, beta, epsilon and iota) and five strains of C. perfringens (A-E) that cause a variety of symptoms such as food poisoning, gas gangrene, and severe neurological disease in sheep and other ruminants. The latter will be the primary focus of this research paper.

The SPI-2 type III secretion system is a multifunctional virulence system (Fig. 4) that is initiated following entry of bacteria into eukaryotic cells and facilitates bacterial growth in all cell types (Ochman et al.,1996;

The effect of environmental factors such as temperature, osmotic pressure, oxygen concentration and pH on microbial growth and survival