The effectiveness of probiotics in reducing the incidence of Clostridium difficile associated diarrhea in elderly patients: a systematic review protocol.

Penicillin was discovered less than a century ago 1 and since then millions of lives have been saved with the use of antibiotics. 2 Today, antibiotics are among the most frequently prescribed medications in healthcare. 3-5 Even though antibiotics have numerous benefits, they can also have negative consequences that lead to other health related problems. An example of this is Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infection that leads to Clostridium difficile associated diarrhea (CDAD). Since the first reported case of CDAD in 1978, this antibiotic associated bacteria has become a major public health threat as was identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 6,7