Clostridium difficile infections of the gut: the unanswered questions

Clostridium difficile infections of the gut: the unanswered questions.

New definitions will help, but cultures are critical for resolving unanswered questions about Clostridium difficile.

There is no question that Clostridium difficile-associated disease (CDAD) rates are on the increase nationally, as shown by US hospital rates. This observation is confirmed in this issue of the journal by Chandler et al., specifically for the state of Oregon. As a surrogate measure for increased CDAD rates, I have searched PubMed for publications on C. difficile in this journal and found 26 art...

Extraintestinal Clostridium difficile infections.

BACKGROUND  Clostridium difficile causes diarrhea that ranges from a benign, self-limiting antibiotic use-associated disease to a life-threatening pseudomembranous colitis. Clostridium difficile has rarely been isolated in extraintestinal infections. Our objective was to characterize clinical features and risk factors of these infections. METHODS Extraintestinal C. difficile infections (CDIs) w...

Evaluation of bloodstream infections, Clostridium difficile infections, and gut microbiota in pediatric oncology patients

Bloodstream infections (BSI) and Clostridium difficile infections (CDI) in pediatric oncology/hematology/bone marrow transplant (BMT) populations are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The objective of this study was to explore possible associations between altered microbiome composition and the occurrence of BSI and CDI in a cohort of pediatric oncology patients. Stool sample...

Clostridium difficile infections in China☆

Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infection has become one of the major hospital-associated infections in Western countries in the last two decades. However, there is limited information on the status of C. difficile infection in Chinese healthcare settings. Given the large and increasing elderly population and the well-recognized problem of over-prescribing of broad spectrum antibiotics in ...