Clostridum Failure

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Clostridum difficile is a gram-positive, spore-forming bacterium that was identified in 1987 to be responsible for antibiotic-associated diarrhea.1 C.difficile’s pathogenicity is due to toxin production. Two toxins have been well described as the main virulence factors: enterotoxin (toxin A) and cytotoxin (toxin B).2,3,4 Another strain of C. difficile that does not express toxin A or B but expresses a binary toxin that has increasing evidence of pathogenicity.2,3 C. difficile acquisition and gut flora disruption must both occur to acquire CDI. The largest risk factor for CDI is broad-spectrum antibiotic usage due its disruption of the colonic flora. Other risk factors for infection include older age, recent hospitalization, PPI therapy, chemotherapy,

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