Clostridium difficile

Clostridium Difficile comes from the genus clostridium and forms gram positive rods that form anaerobic spores. Clostridium difficile (C. Diff) is better known as the etiological agent causing a condition called “Enterocolitis” (pseudomembranous enterocolitis) which is caused by a bacterium that inflames the colon. Pseudomembranous enterocolitis is an acute case of inflammation with a plaque like adhesion of necrotic debris and mucous adhered to the damaged superficial mucosa of the intestine. 350,000 people in the United States are hospitalized per year with Clostridium Difficile infections, 77% of these people are over age 55. Etiology A patient who is on antibiotics or who has taken a course of antibiotics in the 6 week period prior to experiencing symptoms or within 72 hours of hospitalization may have clostridium difficile. In those who carry c. diff., the use of antibiotics reduces the normal flora allowing the c diff to colonize and develop into a bacterial infection. This organism produces toxins, A an enterotoxin causing diarrhea, and B a cytotoxin, that causes the bowel wall to become inflamed, ulcerated and necrotic. Clostridium Difficile is found mainly in the soil, however, spores reside in feces and patients are infected by hand to mouth or mucous membrane contact. The bacterium is hard to eradicate as bleach is the only thing that kills it. Hand sanitizers do not completely kill the bacterium and hand washing seems to be…

Introduction Each year, millions of Americans are infected with Clostridium difficile infections (CDIs), accounting for approximately 15,000 fatalities per year. When the diarrhea caused by the infection becomes severe, life-threatening complications may arise. Treatments are usually done with antibiotics, but with the rise of a newer and more virulent strain of C. diff, medications have become less effective. So to help combat the CDI epidemic, an old treatment called fecal microbiota…

Article Review Clostridium difficile is a bacterial organism that can be found in a small percentage of individuals alongside the natural flora of the digestive system; it produces spores, which can live for long periods of time outside of the body and due to their nature are excreted within fecal matter (Kenneley, 2013, pp. 63). According to Irena Kenneley in the article "Clostridium difficile infection is on the rise", C. difficile is increasing in frequency among individual populations…

Annotated Bibliography: Decreasing the risk of Clostridium Difficile (CDIFF) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2015) Clostridium difficile Infection http://www.cdc.gov/HAI/organisms/cdiff/Cdiff_infect.html This particular site by the CDC summarizes all the Healthcare-associated Infections (HAIs), the organism that cause the disease and its data and statistics. Then it breaks down each infection one by one with an easy to read fact sheet. This is a great resource that merely…

person to another. One infectious disease is Clostridium difficile, a nasty bacterium that affects the digestive system, specifically the colon. A disease that can start of pretty mild and lead to life-threatening inflammation of the colon. Clostridium difficile is a bacterial infection in the digestive system which has the same symptoms as colitis (inflammation of the colon). C. difficile is bacillus shaped, gram-stained, an endospore former and thrives off in the absence of oxygen. C.…

the most common hospital-acquired infections that a patient may obtain is a Clostridium difficile infection. Such infections cause 12 percent of all hospital-acquired infections. Patients who are often at risk for this infection are those that have prolonged use of antibiotics, a history…

characteristics of this microbe. I believe that Edith’s diarrhea is caused by the bacteria clostridium difficile because it can be developed days after finishing an antibiotic. This disorder is commonly referred to as C. Diff. Some characteristics of clostridium include: gram-positive, spore forming, rod-shaped, occurs in pairs or chains, it is a catalase, and it is anaerobic. Resource: "Institutional Links." Clostridium Difficile - Pathogen Safety Data Sheet - Public Health Agency of…

Clinical Problem: Patients with severe Clostridium difficile that are treated with typical antibiotics have an increased chance of recurrent infection. Objective: To determine if the use of Fecal Microbiota Transplants are more effective in treating severe cases of C diff infection. PubMed, Google scholar, and the National Center for Biotechnology Information were researched to gather clinical trial and guidelines for Fecal Microbiota Transplants. The key words used to find the evidence were,…

She is on a third day of a seven-day course of antibiotic, therefore there is a great possibility of clostridium difficile infection. Especially when she has a few risk factors of clostridium difficile infection including age 65years old and above, on Co-amoxiclav antibiotic treatment and recently hospitalised. These factors increased the chances that she suffered from the infection. (NICE, 2013) Ms CD’s faecal sample was sent for investigation and result shows the presence of infection.…

health status. Nurses promote healthy habits and most importantly educate our patients on disease prevention, infection control and proper health maintenance. Although, the only way to effectively do so falls on the nurse 's responsibility to remain up to date with current nursing practice and most importantly evidence-based practice. Nurses advance on research and evidence-based practice which provide their patients with positive outcomes and can be achieved by reading nursing journals and…