It was Cohen and colleagues who actually documented the connection between pseudomembranous colitis and antibiotic therapy. He then studied the stool of the dead guinea pigs and discovered the presence of cytoplasmic changes within. Green used guinea pigs in his experiments, during which he was able to induce death by giving them large doses of penicillin.

This discovery led to new tests in which researchers gave rodents different kinds of antibiotics watching for the development of very similar symptoms. This in fact turned out to be even more deadly than the gangrene itself caused by Clostridium perfringens. observed using animal models that mice treated for gas gangrene with penicillin suffered from a very severe form of typhlitis. difficile the authors had mentioned its deadly effects on mice, the complete virulence of the bacterium was not properly recognized until much later. Despite the fact that even in the first known description of C. difficile.Ĭlostridium difficile is a gram-positive, anaerobic bacillus, which is found widely in the environment, especially in the soil. The name was subsequently changed in the 1970s to C. This was because of the difficulty encountered isolating the bacteria and also the fact that it had a very slow growth phase during culturing. At first, the bacterium was given the name “Bacillus difficilis.” (Latin: difficilis, meaning difficult). It was first mentioned in the literature in 1935 by Hall and O’Toole. difficile) comes from the Greek word “Kloster” which means spindle. It is, therefore, highly recommended to consider reviewing all hospital antibiotic policies and clinical guidelines that may contribute to the prevention of the infection.

A factor that has become increasingly important and relevant is the escalating expense of treatment for patients with C. The optimal time for surgery is within 48 h of initiating conservative treatment without seeing a response, the development of multiple organ failure or a bowel perforation. Fulminant colitis and toxic megacolon warrant surgical intervention. Metronidazole is considered to be the drug of choice, but recent guidelines recommend Vancomycin. At one end of the spectrum, there are asymptomatic carriers, at the other patients with life-threatening toxic megacolon. difficile infection, which greatly increases morbidity and mortality. Particularly, elderly patients in surgical wards and intensive care units are at significant risk of developing C. The occurrence of more resistant strains, which is mainly connected with the wide use of antibiotics, resulted in the rapid spread of the bacteria to different hospital departments. difficile is a gram-positive, anaerobic bacillus, which is widely found in the environment, especially in the soil. Information was extracted from 43 published articles from 2000 to the present day which met inclusion criteria. A literature search of PubMed and Cochrane database regarding C. This literature review looks at the epidemiology, clinical manifestations, diagnostics and current medical and surgical management of Clostridium difficile (C.

C diff spore forming