Clostridium Difficile

Clostridium difficile or C.diff as it is commonly known is the bacterium present in the gut of sixty six percent of the children and three percent of the adults. In normal cases, this does no harm to the healthy people. But in certain cases, when antibiotics are administered, the balance of these bacteria is affected. This will result in the multiplication of the bacteria resulting in fever as well as diarrhoea.

The infections of C.diff are caused due to the antibiotics and in hospitals. Even though it is usually not harmful, in certain cases, they tend to become severe.

One method of preventing C.diff is by maintaining good hygiene in hospitals.

Symptoms

The symptoms that can be used to identify the infection of C. difficile are

• stools containing blood
• Diarrhoea, which ranges form very mild to severe in nature.
• cramps in the abdomen
• fever

The symptoms occur as a result of colitis, which is defined as the inflammation of the large intestine’s lining.

At times, C.diff infects the abdominal lining resulting in peritonitis, perforations in the colon as well as blood poisoning or septicaemia.

Elderly people have very high chances of getting this condition which will be very severe.

Causes

In normal cases, the C.diff is confined to the large intestine and do not harm people. But the administration of certain antibiotic drugs can cause a disturbance in the balance of the bacteria. This in turn provokes the bacteria by multiplying itself, thereby releasing toxins. This is when the person is said to suffer from the infection due to C. diff.

The bacteria spread rapidly as it starts producing toxins. Spores are produced when the body gets exposed to more unfavourable conditions.

The diarrhoea of the person containing C. diff infection has the C. diff spores. These tend to infect all their surrounding clothes, bed clothes and toilets. The spores have the ability to spread even via the air. Hence, the immediate destruction of the spores must be done via cleaning thoroughly.

The people having the any of the below mentioned states are subjected to the infection by C. diff at a higher rate:

• People who had to stay in hospital for a long time
• People over the age of sixty five
• People suffering from severe illness
• People who had been administered antibiotics of broad spectrum.
• People who have a very weak immune systems.
• People who have had gut surgery or have been subjected to a large number or enemas.

The symptoms are not displayed unless the toxins are emitted by the bacteria.

Treatment

Treatment is provided only to those people who have symptoms associated with the C. diff infection.

If one notices any of the symptoms of C. diff infection, he or she must stop using the antibiotics that resulted in the infection. This will help the natural bacteria to grow again in the large intestine.

In majority of the cases, once the antibiotics are stopped, the infection normally clears off.

More severe infections such as colitis or diarrhoea may require the administering of antibiotics like metronidazole that will kill the infected C. diff bacteria. The symptoms will then clear off in two or three days.