1. Within‐population infectious disease dynamics depend on multiple factors, including the ability of hosts to mount an effective immune response. These immune responses can be highly plastic, responding to pathogen risk, as well as the ecological context in which pathogens are encountered. 2. High conspecific density can stimulate immune activity, and recent research suggests that predators can cause indirect protective effects in their prey through the induction of increased immune responses. Comparatively little work, however, has investigated whether exposure to potentially cannibalistic conspecifics, representing both increased density and predatory pressures, will have similar effects on immune expression. 3. Using dragonfly larvae, the present study investigated whether exposure to potentially cannibalistic conspecifics altered the melanisation of simulated parasites. 4. Increased levels of melanisation were found in larvae regardless of whether that conspecific had recently engaged in cannibalism or not. Melanisation also increased as conspecific density increased, even if the conspecifics present were small, and therefore unlikely to pose a cannibalism threat. 5. The findings obtained in the present study indicate that conspecific presence is sufficient to affect immune responses in these insects even though they are relatively solitary compared with the phase‐polyphenic taxa typically associated with density‐dependent prophylaxis. Because melanisation is also important for wound healing, we suggest that the increased melanin response observed with increased conspecific density might act to induce heightened immunity when faced with potentially increased risk of infection, and also facilitate wound healing under threat of predation/cannibalism.

Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is a prevalent source of hospital-acquired diarrhea. The most common presentation of CDI is colitis. In cases of fulminant colitis/toxic megacolon, a colectomy and end ileostomy are part of the treatment plan. There is evidence to suggest that it may be beneficial to surgically treat severe complex CDI by constructing a loop ileostomy for fecal stream diversion followed by colonic lavage, also referred to as the Pittsburgh protocol, which has demonstrated decreased death rates in this patient population. In our case study, we present a rare case of a 60-year-old female patient diagnosed with fulminant small bowel CDI requiring resection of the necrotic small bowel. This was followed by creating an ileostomy and the Pittsburgh protocol, leading to a complete recovery. With an increasing incidence of CDI, it is important to be aware of the small bowel C. difficile infection and its treatment.