![]() ![]() When spores are ingested from the environment, they can then germinate in the intestine and produce toxins. The organism is spread by the fecal-oral route, person to person. difficile spores are ubiquitous in the natural environment including seawater, rivers, and soil. In the 1930s, it was originally named Bacillus difficilis due to difficulty isolating this bacterium in the laboratory.Ĭ. Note the pale-staining, empty areas of the bacterial rods on the Gram stain photo on the right, indicating the spores. difficile is an obligate anaerobe that is a spore-forming Gram-positive rod. When a patient takes antibiotics, beneficial bacteria in the intestine are destroyed or impaired for a period of time, increasing the likelihood that C. Although clindamycin, broad-spectrum cephalosporins, and ampicillin have most often been implicated in CDI, any antibiotic can cause this. The most significant risk factor for CDI is antibiotic exposure. Pseudomembranes in the colon may be seen on flexible sigmoidoscopy they are adherent thick layers of inflammatory cells and mucus. difficile disease presents with a range of clinical findings, from diarrhea to pseudomembranous colitis to toxic megacolon. Infection control precautions are put into place in order to curb the spread of spores. Upon diagnosis, providers begin therapy with an appropriate antimicrobial agent such as oral vancomycin, metronidazole, fidaxomicin, or others and discontinue antimicrobial agents that may predispose to CDI. Since 2013, the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) has mandated institutional reporting of CDI for hospitals or institutions participating in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) program.Īccurate and rapid diagnosis of CDI is important. Although health care-associated CDI cases have been decreasing somewhat since 2015 in the U.S., community-associated CDI cases have not. hospitals, having surpassed methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, some years ago. difficile is the most commonly reported pathogen causing health care-associated infections in U.S. Burden of Clostridioides difficile DiseaseĬlostridioides difficile has received a lot of attention in the last two decades due to the increasing burden it has placed on our patients and our health care system. Thankfully, the genus name retained “C” as the first letter, so the disease can still be referred to as C. Not all the genera of Clostridium species were updated to Clostridioides, and the name changes are species specific. In 2016, the genus name of this particular bacterial species- Clostridium difficile-was updated to Clostridioides. Bacterial names change based on updated genotypic and phylogenetic information highlighting evolutionary relatedness between organisms. Changing Times…Changing Namesīefore we get started, I wanted to update you on a name change for C. I do not have any relevant disclosures to share. My name is Audrey Schuetz, and I direct the initial processing laboratory and co-direct the Bacteriology Laboratory at Mayo Clinic –Rochester in Mayo Clinic Laboratories. Thank you for joining us for this “Hot Topic” on the laboratory diagnosis of C. ![]()
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