C. difficile is a gram positive, spore-forming, obligate anaerobic rod that can cause pseudomembranous colitis in humans. It commonly infects the large intestine via the fecal-oral route, especially in hospitalized patients. Antibiotics that disrupt the normal gut flora allow C. difficile to overgrow and produce toxins that damage the colon mucosa and cause symptoms like diarrhea. Diagnosis involves toxin detection in stool samples by ELISA or PCR. Treatment involves stopping the use of causative antibiotics and administering metronidazole or vancomycin.
5. HABITAT & TRANSMISSION
•Habitat
•Colonize the large intestine or colon
•Transmission
•Fecal oral route
•Surfaces and objects
•3% of general population
•30% of hospitalized patients
7. PATHOGENESIS
• Antibiotics Such as clindamycin suppress normal flora of colon allow
this bacteria to overgrow
• Exotoxin A and b or cytotoxin produced in large amounts which
damage colon mucosa
• Exotoxin a In brush border of colon cause watery diarrhea
• Exotoxin b Cause inhibits the GTPases causing inhibition of signal
transduction
• Depolarization of actin filaments leads to apoptosis and death of
enterocytes cause pseudomembranous colitis
• Pseudo membrane seen in colon are visual result of death of
9. LABORATORY DIAGNOSIS
• Exotoxin in stool is detected
• ELISA test (Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) By using
known antibody to toxin
• PCR Polymerase chain reaction assay by using known
antibody to toxin
• Also by cytopathic effect (Structural changes in a host cell )
on cultured cells or artificial medium
• Identified by neutralization of cytopathic effect with known
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