Identification of Clostridium difficile as a cause of pseudomembranous colitis.

George, R.H.; Symonds, Jane; Dimock, F; Brown, Joel D.; Arabi, Y.; Shinagawa, N; Keighley, M. R. B.; Alexander-Williams, J; Burdon, D. W.

doi:10.1136/bmj.1.6114.695

Cited by 420 publications

(172 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…If left untreated, CDI can progress to pseudomembranous colitis, toxic megacolon, and death [3]. C. difficile was originally identified in 1935 as an innocuous normal gut microbe from the infant & Elaine O. Petrof eop@queensu.ca gastrointestinal tract, and has since evolved to become an opportunistic pathogen of epidemic proportions among individuals whose normal gut microbiota has been functionally altered [4][5][6].…”

Section: Clostridium Difficile Infection (Cdi)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Recurrent Clostridium difficile infection and the microbiome

2015

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The diverse and densely populated gastrointestinal microbiota is essential for the regulation of host physiology and immune function. As our knowledge of the composition and function of the intestinal microbiota continues to expand, there is new interest in using these developments to tailor fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) and microbial ecosystem therapeutics (MET) for a variety of diseases. The potential role of FMT and MET in the treatment of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI)-currently the leading nosocomial gastrointestinal infection-has proven highly effective for recurrent CDI, and has emerged as a paradigm shift in the treatment of this disease. The current review will serve as a summary of the key aspects of CDI, and will introduce the essential framework and challenges of FMT, as is currently practiced. MET represents the progression of conventional bacteriotherapy that fundamentally capitalizes on the restorative properties of intestinal bacterial communities and may be viewed as the culmination of a rationally designed therapeutic modality. As our understanding of the composition and function of the intestinal microbiota evolves, it will likely drive next-generation microbiota therapies for a range of medical conditions, such as inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, and metabolic syndrome.

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Section: Clostridium Difficile Infection (Cdi)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Recurrent Clostridium difficile infection and the microbiome

2015

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“…Clostridium difficile is the causative agent of C. difficile infection (CDI) (Bartlett et al, 1978;Bartlett, 2008;George et al, 1978). Though CDI is a common nosocomial infection, it is not limited to the hospital environment; community-acquired CDI and asymptomatic carriage are also common (Freeman et al, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Efficacy of decontaminants and disinfectants against Clostridium difficile

Vohra

Poxton

2011

Journal of Medical Microbiology

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Clostridium difficile is a common nosocomial pathogen transmitted mainly via its spores. These spores can remain viable on contaminated surfaces for several months and are resistant to most commonly used cleaning agents. Thus, effective decontamination of the environment is essential in preventing the transmission of C. difficile in health-care establishments. However, this emphasis on decontamination must also be extended to laboratories due to risk of exposure of staff to potentially virulent strains. Though few cases of laboratory-acquired infection have been reported, the threat of infection by C. difficile in the laboratory is real. Our aim was to test the efficacy of four disinfectants, Actichlor, MicroSol 3+, TriGene Advance and Virkon, and one laboratory decontaminant, Decon 90, against vegetative cells and spores of C. difficile. Five strains were selected for the study: the three most commonly encountered epidemic strains in Scotland, PCR ribotypes 106, 001 and 027, and control strains 630 and VPI 10463. MICs were determined by agar dilution and broth microdilution. All the agents tested inhibited the growth of vegetative cells of the selected strains at concentrations below the recommended working concentrations. Additionally, their effect on spores was determined by exposing the spores of these strains to different concentrations of the agents for different periods of time. For some of the agents, an exposure of 10 min was required for sporicidal activity. Further, only Actichlor was able to bring about a 3 log 10 reduction in spore numbers under clean and dirty conditions. It was also the only agent that decontaminated different hard, non-porous surfaces artificially contaminated with C. difficile spores. However, this too required an exposure time of more than 2 min and up to 10 min. In conclusion, only the chlorine-releasing agent Actichlor was found to be suitable for the elimination of C. difficile spores from the environment, making it the agent of choice for the decontamination of laboratory surfaces.

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“…Clostridiurn dzficile is the primary aetiological agent of antibiotic-associated pseudomembranous colitis and some cases of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea (Bartlett et al, 1978;George et al, 1978).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%