Clostridium Difficile

Clostridium difficile, commonly known as “C. diff”, is a gram-positive bacillus. This highly contagious, opportunistic, bacterium is found mainly in long-term care facilities (nursing homes); however, it can also be considered to be a prevalent nosocomial acquired infection. It is a capsule forming, strict anaerobe, and its growth flourishes at body temperatures (thirty-seven degrees Celsius). Clostridium difficile can also be categorized as a motile (flagella present), spore forming bacterium that is found in an individual’s normal flora of the intestine. In addition, the C. difficile reservoir is prevalently found in water and soil reserves; thus, this bacterium can be labelled as ubiquitous in nature. C. difficile is transmitted via the

Broad spectrum antibiotics tend to kill the bodies normal flora, which then allows bacterium’s like C. difficile to spread and grow rapidly in its vegetative state. Toxin A (enterotoxin) is then produced causing diarrhea, followed by toxin B (cytotoxin) which causes damage to the mucosal cells. Toxin A and B also induce the secretion of cytokines into host cells, which often cause an acute neutrophilic inflammatory infiltrate. Together, these toxins enable the interruption of tight junctions in the intestine and cause inflammation of the colon leading to an extensive amount of fluid secretion (diarrhea). A third toxin has recently been discovered in newer strains of this bacterium called the binary toxin. It role in pathogenicity is not welly understood yet, however this toxin was present in severe outbreaks of C. difficile that has high rates of morbidity. C. difficile has the presence of an attachment pilus, called fimbriae, which allows it to adhere more strongly to the mucosa cells. Lastly, another virulence factor of this bacterium is that it produces a capsule, which help cause