Clostridium Difficile Flashcards
Clostridium Difficile aka?
C. difficile colitis
what is clostridium difficile?
a gram positive rod bacteria
where is clostridium difficile commonly encountered?
hospitals
effect clostridium difficile has on your body if infected by it?
makes toxins, damaging the intestine
when infected by clostridium difficile what syndrome is caused?
pseudomembranous colitis
main reason why someone would get infected by clostridium difficile in the first place?
normal gut flora gets removed, clostridium difficile then takes over
what causes normal gut flora to be removed?
broad-spectrum antibiotics
which drug is classically associated with a clostridium difficile infection?
drug group?
Clindamycin
antibiotics
lincomycin
is clindamycin bacteriostatic or bactericidal?
bacteriostatic
moa of clindamycin?
binds to 50S subunit of the ribosome, this inhibits bacterial protein synthesis
Why is it called Pseudomembranous Colitis?
Inflammatory exudate leaks, it coalesces on colon surface to make a pseudomembrane.
Risk Factors?
- 2 drug groups
broad-spectrum antibiotics
PPIs
symptoms?
-2
Diarrhoea
Abdo pain
FBC main finding?
-1
raised WBC
features on AXR?
-2
thumbprinting, bowel dilatation