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Culturing and Maintaining Clostridium difficile in an Anaerobic Environment
11:13

Culturing and Maintaining Clostridium difficile in an Anaerobic Environment

Published on: September 14, 2013

Clostridium difficile infection

C P Kelly1, J T LaMont

  • 1Division of Gastroenterology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA. ciaran_kelly@bidmc.harvard.edu

Annual Review of Medicine
|March 24, 1998
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Clostridium difficile infection, a common cause of hospital diarrhea, is treated with metronidazole or vancomycin. While effective, 20% of patients experience a relapse after discontinuing these antibiotics.

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Cefoperazone-treated Mouse Model of Clinically-relevant Clostridium difficile Strain R20291
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Cefoperazone-treated Mouse Model of Clinically-relevant Clostridium difficile Strain R20291

Published on: December 10, 2016

Area of Science:

  • Infectious Diseases
  • Gastroenterology
  • Microbiology

Background:

  • Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is a significant cause of infectious diarrhea in hospitalized patients, often linked to broad-spectrum antibiotic use.
  • Pathogenic C. difficile strains produce toxins A and B, leading to colonic inflammation and injury, ranging from mild diarrhea to severe pseudomembranous colitis.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To outline the diagnosis and management of Clostridium difficile infection.
  • To compare the efficacy and considerations of metronidazole and vancomycin in treating CDI.

Main Methods:

  • Diagnosis relies on detecting C. difficile toxins in stool samples.
  • Initial management involves antibiotic discontinuation; severe or persistent cases are treated with oral metronidazole or vancomycin.

Main Results:

  • Metronidazole is the preferred treatment for severe/persistent CDI due to cost-effectiveness compared to vancomycin.
  • Vancomycin is also effective but raises concerns about promoting vancomycin-resistant bacteria.
  • Both treatments typically show improvement within three days, but 20% of patients experience relapse upon discontinuation.

Conclusions:

  • Discontinuation of inciting antibiotics is the first management step for CDI.
  • Oral metronidazole is the recommended treatment for severe CDI, with vancomycin as an alternative.
  • Relapse remains a significant challenge in CDI management, affecting 20% of treated patients.