Clostridium Difficile News and Research

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Clostridium difficile is a type of bacterium found in human and animal waste. Clostridium difficile is a common cause of diarrhea that occurs in hospitals. It can also cause diarrhea or other intestinal disorders in patients treated with antibiotics.

Scientists work together to optimize the quality, availability of fecal microbiota transplants

Monarch Labs and the BioTherapeutics, Education & Research Foundation announced today their collaboration to develop two fecal microbiota transplantation products.

4 Jun 2013

Antidepressants can increase risk of C. difficile infection in depressed patients

Adults with depression and who receive certain types of anti-depressants have an increased risk of developing Clostridium difficile, a costly and serious hospital-associated infection, according to a new University of Michigan Health System study.

8 May 2013

Cubist receives Fast Track designation from FDA for late-stage antibiotic candidate

Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted the Company's late-stage antibiotic candidate ceftolozane/tazobactam (CXA-201) Fast Track status in the previously granted Qualified Infectious Disease Product indications, Hospital-Acquired Bacterial Pneumonia/Ventilator-Associated Bacterial Pneumonia and Complicated Urinary Tract Infections.

8 May 2013

University of Guelph researchers develop carbohydrate-based vaccine against gut bug

A first-ever vaccine created by University of Guelph researchers for gut bacteria common in autistic children may also help control some autism symptoms.

25 Apr 2013

ViroPharma announces results of VP20621 Phase 2 study for preventing recurrent CDI

ViroPharma Incorporated, an international biopharmaceutical company committed to developing and commercializing innovative products that address unmet medical needs and rare diseases, today announced the results of a Phase 2 study of VP20621 (non-toxigenic Clostridium difficile; NTCD) a novel treatment approach for preventing recurrent C. difficile infections.

23 Apr 2013

Unnecessary use of antibiotics in elderly women in EDs increases risk of unintended consequences

Older adults represent an important and growing demographic in emergency departments across the country, with urinary tract infections being one of the leading causes for ED visits.

23 Apr 2013

Study confirms effectiveness of UV-C-emitting device in combating pathogens in hospital environment

A recent study funded by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Epicenters Program and published in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology ( Deverick H. Anderson , M.D., MPH et al., 2013) supports and expands on previously published studies confirming the effectiveness of an automated UV-C-emitting device to combat the pathogens Clostridium difficile (C. diff.), vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) and Acinetobacter spp. – some of the common culprits of health care-associated infections drawing increased attention for hospitals across the country.

20 Apr 2013

Researchers use metagenomics to identify the cause of outbreaks of bacterial infection

Researchers have been able to reconstruct the genome sequence of an outbreak strain of Shiga-toxigenic Escherichia coli (STEC), which caused over 50 deaths in Germany, using an approach known as metagenomics which bypasses the need for growing bacteria in the lab.

12 Apr 2013

Researchers use metagenomics to reconstruct genome sequence of Shiga-toxigenic Escherichia coli

Researchers have been able to reconstruct the genome sequence of an outbreak strain of Shiga-toxigenic Escherichia coli using metagenomics (the direct sequencing of DNA extracted from microbiologically complex samples), according to a study in the April 10 issue of JAMA, a Genomics theme issue.

10 Apr 2013

Disinfection intervention highlights effective method in removing antibiotic-resistant bug

With rates and deaths associated with Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) at historically high levels, many hospitals have taken extra steps to reduce these infections. New research finds that a dedicated daily cleaning crew who adequately clean and disinfect rooms contaminated by C. difficile using a standardized process can be more effective than other disinfection interventions.

10 Apr 2013

UC San Francisco researchers outline cell-based therapeutics as a "third pillar” of medicine

Treating patients with cells may one day become as common as it is now to treat the sick with drugs made from engineered proteins, antibodies or smaller chemicals, according to UC San Francisco researchers.

4 Apr 2013

Patients taking antihistamines to suppress stomach acid are at greater risk of C. diff infection

Patients receiving antihistamines to suppress stomach acid are at greater risk of infection from Clostridium difficile, or C. diff, a common cause of diarrhea, particularly in health care settings, Mayo Clinic researchers have found.

28 Mar 2013

APIC issues new edition of Guide to Preventing Clostridium difficile Infections

In an effort to stop the transmission of Clostridium difficile infections, which claim the lives of at least 14,000 Americans annually, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology has issued an updated Implementation Guide to help clinicians protect patients.

25 Mar 2013

Left-sided brain injury increases infection risk

Patients with a left-sided brain injury are more likely to develop hospital-acquired infections than those with right-sided injury, show study findings.

5 Mar 2013

Cubist receives FDA QIDP designation for ceftolozane/tazobactam to treat HABP/ VABP, cUTI

Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has designated the company's late-stage antibiotic candidate, ceftolozane/tazobactam, as a Qualified Infectious Disease Product (QIDP) for the indications of Hospital-Acquired Bacterial Pneumonia (HABP)/Ventilator-Associated Bacterial Pneumonia (VABP) and Complicated Urinary Tract Infections (cUTI).

1 Mar 2013

Faecal microbiota transplantation highly effective in treating recurrent C. difficile infections

Clostridium difficile infections have developed into a virtual pandemic over the past two decades. The outcome of standard antibiotic treatment is unsatisfactory: the recurrence rates are high with every relapse increasing the risk of further follow-ups. Faecal microbiota transplantation offers a rapidly acting and highly effective alternative in treating recurrent Clostridium difficile infections (RCDI), as Professor Lawrence J. Brandt (Montefiore Medical Center, New York, USA) points out.

27 Feb 2013

U.S. hospitals continue to make progress in reducing health care-associated infections

Hospitals in the U.S. continue to make progress in the fight against central line-associated bloodstream infections and some surgical site infections, according to a report issued today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Catheter-associated urinary tract infections remained unchanged between 2010 and 2011.

12 Feb 2013

STA announces results from ABRAXANE plus gemcitabine phase III trial on pancreatic cancer

Australian biopharmaceutical company Specialised Therapeutics Australia announces that a phase III clinical trial of world leading breast cancer drug ABRAXANE (nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel) in combination with current standard of care gemcitabine in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer has demonstrated substantially improved survival times, with double the number of patients surviving two years.

23 Jan 2013

Donor feces more effective than antibiotic for C. difficile infection

Treatment of recurrent Clostridium difficile infection with donor feces infusion is significantly more effective than conventional vancomycin therapy, show results published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

17 Jan 2013

Greater selectivity in GI bleeding prophylaxis needed

Researchers have developed a risk-scoring system to identify noncritically ill hospital patients most likely to benefit from prophylactic acid-suppressive medication.

14 Jan 2013