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.

High levels of dietary zinc increase susceptibility to Clostridium difficile infections

Too much dietary zinc increases susceptibility to infection by Clostridium difficile - "C. diff" - the most common cause of hospital-acquired infections.

26 Sep 2016

Ancient remedy to treat severe diarrhea becomes effective therapy for multiple recurrent CDI

Modern medicine is taking a new look at an ancient remedy for severe diarrhea as a novel approach to treat a serious gastrointestinal infection.

22 Sep 2016

TSRI researchers find potential new weapon to combat C. difficile infections

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered a potential new weapon against Clostridium difficile, a bacterium that causes hundreds of thousands of severe intestinal infections in the U.S. every year and is frequently fatal.

16 Sep 2016

Scientists use insect model to reveal therapeutic potential of C. difficile bacteriophages

University of Leicester scientists have previously identified the potential of using a bacteriophage cocktail to eradicate Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) and in this research, using an insect model, they show that their prophylactic use can prevent infection forming in the first place.

12 Sep 2016

Household transmission of C. difficile to children, pets may be cause for community-related infections

Household transmission of Clostridium difficile to pets and children may be a source of community-associated C. difficile infections according to findings from a new study published today in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

30 Aug 2016

ESCMID releases new guidelines on best practices to detect C. difficile infections

The European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases has just released new guidelines on best practice methods to diagnose Clostridium difficile infection (CDI).

26 Aug 2016

Penicillin allergy testing: an interview with Dr. Eric Macy

Penicillin was one of the first antibiotics developed and has saved millions of lives. First used in the early 1940s, penicillin is still one of the most widely used and least toxic family of antibiotics.

17 Aug 2016

Coordinated treatment for both illnesses could save lives of people with HIV and TB

Tuberculosis (TB) is a leading killer of people with HIV, and providing therapy for both illnesses simultaneously saves lives - according to new guidelines on the treatment of drug-susceptible TB developed jointly by the American Thoracic Society, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Infectious Diseases Society of America.

11 Aug 2016

Valley fever diagnosis often overlooked by primary care physicians

For patients with pneumonia or ongoing influenza-like symptoms who live in or have visited the west or southwest United States, especially Arizona and central California, infectious diseases experts recommend physicians suspect valley fever, an often-overlooked fungal infection.

28 Jul 2016

IDSA/ATS recommends shorter courses of antibiotics for patients with hospital-acquired, ventilator-associated pneumonia

Hospital-acquired pneumonia and ventilator-associated pneumonia– which account for 20 to 25 percent of hospital-acquired infections – should be treated with shorter courses of antibiotics than they typically are, according to new guidelines released by the Infectious Diseases Society of America and American Thoracic Society and published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

14 Jul 2016

Fecal transplants may help treat home and hospital-acquired scourge

Fecal transplants are increasingly being used as the treatment of last resort for certain infections in the human gut and have had remarkable success treating the nursing home and hospital-acquired scourge, Clostridium difficile colitis, an infectious diarrhea that often follows antibiotic treatment.

13 Jul 2016

New IDSA guidelines focus on diagnosis, treatment of deadly aspergillosis

New therapies are improving care, but early diagnosis remains critical in the effective treatment of invasive, a potentially deadly fungal infection, according to new guidelines released by the Infectious Diseases Society of America and published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

30 Jun 2016

Novel suite of computer algorithms can accurately predict behavior of gut microbiome

A team of investigators from Brigham and Women's Hospital and the University of Massachusetts have developed a suite of computer algorithms that can accurately predict the behavior of the microbiome - the vast collection of microbes living on and inside the human body.

28 Jun 2016

Bacteriophage combinations show therapeutic potential in reducing C. difficile infections

A new University of Leicester study has confirmed the therapeutic potential of bacteriophage combinations to treat highly infectious bacteria C. difficile infections (CDI) while retaining a healthy gut.

6 Jun 2016

Transplanted human stool may offer treatment hope for ulcerative colitis patients

Patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) may improve their symptoms with a transplantation of healthy stool from donors, according to Australian researchers. The findings were presented by Dr Sudarchan Paramsothy MD, a gastroenterologist from the University of New South Wales, Australia at the Digestive Disease Week conference in San Diego, California between the 21st to 24th May.

24 May 2016

New frozen faecal bank increases chances of curing a chronic health condition

A new frozen faecal bank that could save hundreds of lives and dramatically improve the quality of life of many more has been established at a Portsmouth hospital.

20 May 2016

Ramizol drug shows promise in treatment of Clostridium difficile infections

A scientific paper released today in the Journal of Antibiotics presents the pre-clinical development of Ramizol, a first generation drug belonging to a new class of styrylbenzene antibiotics with a novel mechanism of action.

19 May 2016

Potential vaccine that resembles sugar structures may help fight against gut bacterium C. difficile

A vaccine against one of the most dangerous hospital germs may soon be available. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam and the Freie Universität Berlin have developed a substance that elicits an immune response against the gut bacterium Clostridium difficile.

13 May 2016

UAB hospital leads the way in improving antibiotic use

One of today's urgent health threats is antibiotic resistance, caused by inappropriate prescription and use of antibiotics, and — according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — approximately 50 percent of all antibiotics prescribed in the United States are unnecessary or inappropriate, with many of them prescribed in inpatient settings.

9 May 2016

Study estimates 30% of outpatient oral antibiotic prescription in the U.S as inappropriate

An estimated 30 percent of outpatient oral antibiotic prescriptions in the U.S. in 2010-2011 may have been inappropriate, findings that support the need for establishing a goal for outpatient antibiotic stewardship, according to a study appearing in the May 3 issue of JAMA.

4 May 2016