Clostridium difficile is a bacterial infection that causes life-threatening inflammation of the colon. Clostridium infection normally affects older people in hospitals and long-term care facilities, according to the Mayo Clinic. Risk factors for clostridium difficile infection include recent use of broad-spectrum antibiotics, recent hospitalization, weakened immune system and recent abdominal surgeries or gastrointestinal procedures. Probiotics are used to prevent clostridium difficile infection.
Probiotics and Clostridium Difficile
Probiotics are beneficial microorganisms that are similar to microorganisms found in the human colon, according to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Probiotics are useful in suppressing the overgrowth of clostridium difficile bacteria, according to the Mayo Clinic. Probiotics also help restore a healthy balance between good and bad bacteria in the colon. Use of saccharomyces boulardii probiotic together with antibiotics may help prevent recurrent clostridium difficile infections.
Symptoms of Clostridium Difficile
Some people who are infected with clostridium difficile bacterium do not display symptoms of the disease. These patients can still spread the bacteria to other people. Patients with active symptoms of clostridium difficile experience watery diarrhea three or more times a day, abdominal cramping, abdominal tenderness, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, dehydration, blood in stool, fever or weight loss, according to the Mayo Clinic. Complications of clostridium difficile include dehydration, colon perforation and toxic megacolon and death. Toxic megacolon is a condition in which the colon becomes very distended until it can no longer perform its functions. The colon may also rupture, allowing bacteria to enter the abdominal cavity.
Treatment of Clostridium Difficile
Patients with clostridium difficile infection symptoms should seek medical treatment as soon as possible because dehydration and electrolyte loss can lead to acute kidney failure. Metronidazole antibiotic is used to treat mild symptoms of clostridium infection while vancomycin antibiotic is used to treat severe symptoms. Antibiotics kill clostridium bacteria, which allows normal beneficial bacteria to flourish again in the colon.
Prevention of Clostridium Difficile
Frequent hand washing using water and soap helps prevent the spread of clostridium difficile bacteria. Health workers should wash their hands before and after treating each patient. Patients with clostridium difficile infection should be transferred to a private room in the hospital to avoid spreading the bacteria to other patients. Antibiotic misuse, especially in people who are carriers of clostridium difficile spores, can lead to the bacterial infection. Antibiotics should be only used to treat serious bacterial infections. The prescribed antibiotic dose should also be completed to avoid developing bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics.
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