BACKGROUND Clostridium difficile is a recognised cause of typhlocolitis and diarrhoea in neonatal pigs but has never been confirmed in association with pathology and disease in Irish pigs. CASE PRESENTATION Four neonatal piglets, with a history of diarrhoea were referred to the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory, Backweston for necropsy. They were from a fully integrated, commercial pig f...

This clinical case describes a healthy 6 year old female presenting to the outpatient clinic with frequent, watery diarrhea after a course of antibiotics prescribed for acute sinusitis. She was subsequently diagnosed with Clostridium difficile Infection (CDI). Clostridium difficile Infection is a toxin mediated diarrheal illness typically presenting in adults during or within a few weeks of ant...

The aim of this meta-analysis was to compare the efficacy of metronidazole and vancomycin for the treatment of Clostridium difficile infection, especially to investigate which agent was superior for treating either mild or severe C. difficile infection. A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials and cohort studies identified in Pubmed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library was conducted. Four r...

Recurrence is a major complication of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea and occurs in 15 to 20% of patients after discontinuation of therapy. Strains from 53 patients with Clostridium difficile recurrences were fingerprinted by PCR ribotyping. Reinfection with a different strain occurred in 15 out of 53 patients (28,3%), while 38 patients relapsed. These data suggest the need to perform...

A retrospective cohort study was conducted to evaluate the utility of self-reported tobacco use for developing a clinical prediction rule for poor outcomes of Clostridium difficile infection. Patients with any history of smoking were significantly less likely than never smokers to be cured of their infection within two weeks. Disease recurrence, readmission within 30 days, death before treatmen...

Clostridium difficile infection, a common hospital-associated infection, is a gastrointestinal illness that becomes recurrent in about 25% of infected patients. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is increasingly supported by clinical trials as an effective treatment for recurrent Clostridium difficile infection, but a number of questions remain about how it can be optimally performed. In th...

Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) or Macrophage Activation Syndrome (MAS) is a potentially life threatening disorder that presents with fever, suppressed blood cell counts, hepatosplenomegaly and multi-organ failure. HLH has been reported in association with genetic mutations, infections, autoimmune disorders, and various malignancies. However to the best of our knowledge, HLH in associa...

Clostridium difficile, an anaerobic toxigenic bacterium, causes a severe infectious colitis that leads to significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Both enhanced bacterial toxins and diminished host immune response contribute to symptomatic disease. C. difficile has been a well-established pathogen in North America and Europe for decades, but is just emerging in Asia. This article reviews ...

The possibility that the small intestine may represent a reservoir for Clostridium difficile was studied, using segments of human jejunum collected at necropsy. Our results (three of 100 specimens positive for C difficile culture) support the hypothesis that C difficile can be found in human jejunum and that it adheres to the normal mucosa as a resident bacterium. These findings suggest that ga...