The organism known as Clostridium difficile (hereafter C. diff, its common name) is known to cause the gastrointestinal disease known as pseudomembranous colitis (Wilmoth 187). C diff. is an anaerobic, gram-positive bacterium. It is one of six gram-positive bacteria known to be pathogenic is humans (Wilmouth 187). It is a part of the human bodies natural flora, and is not known to be disease-causing in animals (Carpenter 707).
C diff. colitis usually occurs when a patient is already taking antibiotics to fight a bacterial infection. The antibiotics upset the balance of the naturally occurring gut bacteria and C diff. takes hold(Wilmoth 187). Usually the disease is nosocomial and the person is infect while they are in the hospital. Colitis is a disease characterized by extreme diarrhea. Death from colitis is usually a result of dehydration or intestinal perforation (Carpenter 707). Toxins also play an important role in C diff. colitis. C diff. produces a toxin that is deadly to the elderly and those with weakened immune systems. C. diff was first identified as the cause of colitis in 1978, but symptoms of the disease have been described in journals for over two-hundred years (Berkow 791).The most notable outbreak of the disease occurred in Canada. In late 2006, twenty-one people died in Quebec hospitals from C diff. colitis. In November 2006 an outbreak at a hospital in England killed nine patients(Wilmoth 188). The disease is widespread in hospitals with 50% of patients who stay longer than a month contracting the disease (Wilmoth 187).
The bacterium is found naturally in the body, and is normally non-disease causing. At a young age infants are “infected” by ingesting food, and coming into contact with surfaces that are bacteria ridden. C diff. accounts for 3% of the bacteria in the adult gut, and 66% of bacteria in an infant’s gut (Wilmoth 187). C diff. is resistant to most common antibiotics while other bacteria found in the gut is not. Long-term...