Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) is a spore-forming, toxin-producing, gram-positive anaerobic bacterium that is the principal etiologic agent of antibiotic-associated diarrhea. Infection with C. difficile (CDI) is characterized by diarrhea in clinical syndromes that vary from self-limited to mild or severe. Since its initial recognition as the causative agent of pseudomembranous colitis, C....

BACKGROUND/AIMS Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and histamine-2 receptor antagonists (H2RAs) are commonly prescribed for stress ulcer prophylaxis (SUP) in critically ill patients. Several studies have suggested that the use of PPIs is a potential risk factor for Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). We compared the incidences of CDI in the PPI group and H2RA group for SUP in critically ill patie...

Influx of calcium through voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs) is essential for striatal function and plasticity. VGCCs expressed in striatal neurons have varying kinetics, voltage dependences, and densities resulting in heterogeneous subcellular calcium dynamics. One factor that determines the calcium dynamics in striatal medium spiny neurons is inactivation of VGCCs. Aside from voltage-depe...

BACKGROUND It has been suggested that the high incidence of ribotype 078 Clostridium difficile infections (CDI) in the Netherlands is related to pig farming. METHODS We used data of hospitalised CDI patients (>2yrs of age) diagnosed between May 2009 and May 2015 in 26 hospitals participating in a national sentinel surveillance. We compared clinical and geographical characteristics of 078 CDI ...

UNLABELLED Background.  Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are at higher risk for Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). METHODS We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies from 1983 to 2015 using the PubMed, EMBASE, and Google Scholar databases to study the prevalence and outcomes of CDI in this patient population. Among the 9146 articles retrieved from the studie...

C lostridium difficile infection (CDI), most often resulting from an antibiotic-induced disturbance of the healthy intestinal microbiota, is an increasing health problem (1 3). Antibiotics such as metronidazole or vancomycin are well-established and effective treatment options for first occurrences of CDI (4, 5) (socalled primary), but up to one third of patients experience treatment failure or...

We explored the epidemiology and outcomes of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) recurrence among Medicare patients in a nursing home (NH) whose CDI originated in acute care hospitals.We conducted a retrospective, population-based matched cohort combining Medicare claims with Minimum Data Set 3.0, including all hospitalized patients age ≥65 years transferred to an NH after hospitalization wit...

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE To investigate the clinical characteristics of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) at a medical center in Taiwan. METHODS Patients with CDI were identified from medical records at the National Taiwan University Hospital (Taipei, Taiwan). The following information was gathered and analyzed to better understand the clinical manifestations of CDI: age; sex; underlying immuno...

BACKGROUND In current state of practice, disease severity assessment for Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) lacks consensus between different organizations. In the latest guidelines for management of CDI, authors have proposed a new disease severity classification. This classification has been derived from expert opinion and includes previously reported patient related factors that predict u...

Background. Hospital stay and antimicrobial therapy are the major risk factors for developing Clostridium difficileinfection (CDI). Community outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (CoPAT) allows patients to reside in the community while being treated with parenteral antimicrobials. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the incidence and clinical outcomes of community onset CDI (CO-CDI...