What Is a Clostridium Difficile Infection?

Clostridium difficile is extremely sensitive to oxygen and difficult to isolate and culture. Therefore named C. difficile. ^[1] Clostridium difficile is an anaerobic bacterium. Anaerobic bacteria are those that grow better under anaerobic conditions than in aerobic environments, and the human intestine happens to be a relatively anaerobic environment. ^[2]

1. Characteristics of this bacterium: Gram-positive crude bacilli. The spores are oval and located at the sub-extreme of the bacteria. The colony is yellow and rough. It does not produce lipase and lecithin. It does not coagulate and does not digest milk. ^[1]

Strictly anaerobic. Culture on anaerobic blood agar plates at 35 ° C for 48 h. Form 3-5 mm diameter, round, white or light yellow, irregular edges, rough surface, non-hemolytic colonies. In CCFA (

Fermentation

Clostridium difficile is widely distributed in natural environments, such as soil,

Clostridium difficile is a gram-positive Clostridium toxin producing anaerobic growth,

This pair of bacteria

Toxin detection:

Tissue cytotoxin testing is considered the gold standard for diagnosis. It takes 48 hours, is highly sensitive, and can detect toxins. ^[4]

It is mainly transmitted through the fecal-oral route in hospitals. ^[4]

The principle of treatment is to stop the relevant antibiotics, give fluids and supplements

The bacterium can form spores, so biological safety should be taken care of during operation to prevent nosocomial infections. Transporters need to wear gloves and use biosafety transport boxes for transport. ^[8]

In 2011, a Clostridium outbreak in Niagara County, Ontario, Canada, killed 16 people. The three outbreaks were Greater Niagara General Hospital, where 4 patients died; St. Catharines General Hospital, 10 people died; Welland Hospital, 2 People die. ^[7]