Clostridium difficile, a gram-positive anaerobic bacillus dubbed as the difficult clostridium because it resisted early attempts of isolation and culture. After some decades in the darkness, it became famous, when in 1978, a cytotoxin of the C. difficile was found the responsible of the pseudomembranous colitis. We review in this paper aspects of the epidemiology of the C. difficile in health a...

Inactivating Clostridium difficile spores is difficult, as they are resistant to heat, chemicals, and antimicrobials. However, this note describes inactivation of C. difficile spore outgrowth by incubation in a solution containing a germinant (1% (m/v) sodium taurocholate), co-germinants (1% (m/v) tryptose and 1% (m/v) NaCl), and natural antimicrobials (20 nmol·L-1 nisin and 0.2 mmol·L-1 lysozy...

Clostridium difficile is an important bacterial pathogen of humans and a variety of animal species, where it can cause significant medical problems. The major public health concern is the possibility of inapparent animal reservoirs of C. difficile and shedding of bacteria to noninfected individuals or populations, as well as being a source of food contamination. Migrating birds can be a key epi...

1. Dubberke ER, Olsen M.A. Burden of Clostridium difficile on the Healthcare System. Clin Infect Dis. 2012; 55(2): 88–92. doi: 10.1093/cid/cis335. CrossRef Google Scholar

Previous evidence suggested a significant variation in the testing algorithms used across the United Kingdom for the diagnosis of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) and new national guidelines were issued in 2012. The main aim of this paper was to explore if such variation in testing and reporting is still present, to compare the management of CDI cases, and to investigate if there is any si...

Toxin-producing Clostridium difficile strains is a common cause of diarrhoea today. Clostridium difficile presently has been identified as a causative agent of a spectrum of diseases referred to as Clostridium difficile Infections (CDI). CDI can establish as self-limiting antibiotic-associated diarrhoea (AAD) and antibiotic-associated colitis (AAC) to severe and life threatening forms like; pse...

Clostridium difficile PCR ribotype 018 has emerged in Italy, South Korea, and Japan, causing severe infections and outbreaks. In this study, we sequenced the genome of IT1118, an Italian clinical isolate, to clarify the molecular features contributing to the success of this epidemic type.