Clostridioides Difficile Flashcards
1
Q
What does clostridium difficile do?
A
• Bowel infection
2
Q
What are the pathogens for c.difficile?
A
- Gram positive rods with spores
- Anaerobic bacillus
- Found in the bowel microflora
3
Q
Who is at risk of c.difficile?
A
- Elderly
- Hospitalisation
- Severe illness
- Immunocompromised
- Gastric acid suppression
- IBD
- Antibiotics - suppressing competing flora
4
Q
How is c.difficile spread?
A
- Direct contact
* Faecal-oral spread
5
Q
How does c.difficile cause damage?
A
• Damaged epithelial cells leads to - fluid secretion, neutrophil adhesion and local inflammation
6
Q
What are the mild symptoms of c.difficile?
A
- Diarrhoea
- Mucus / blood in the stool
- Fever
- Abdominal pain
7
Q
What are the severe symptoms of c.difficile?
A
- Leukocytosis
- Increased creatinine
- Colitis
8
Q
What are the tests for c.difficile?
A
- Stool assays
- Enzyme assay for glutamate dehydrogenase
- PCR
- Enzyme immunoassay for toxins
9
Q
What are the treatments for c.difficile?
A
- Stop antibiotics
- Metronidazole - can’t kill spores
- Vancomycin - inhibits cell wall synthesis
- Quarantine patient
10
Q
What are the complications with c.difficile?
A
- Hypotension
- Shock
- Sepsis
- Relapse - 20-27%
11
Q
What are the properties of c.difficile spores?
A
- Resistant to heat
- Resistant to antibiotics
- Germinate in bile acids
