Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018 Oct 2;169(7):ITC49-ITC64.
doi: 10.7326/AITC201810020.

Clostridioides difficile Infection

Alice Y Guh  1 , Preeta K Kutty  1
Affiliations
Review

Clostridioides difficile Infection

Alice Y Guh et al. Ann Intern Med. .

Abstract

Clostridioides difficile (formerly Clostridium difficile) infection is the most frequently identified health care-associated infection in the United States. C difficile has also emerged as a cause of community-associated diarrhea, resulting in increased incidence of community-associated infection. Clinical illness ranges in severity from mild diarrhea to fulminant colitis and death. Appropriate management of infection requires understanding of the various diagnostic assays and therapeutic options as well as relevant measures to infection prevention. This article provides updated recommendations regarding the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of incident and recurrent C difficile infection.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure.
Figure.
Treatment strategies for Clostridioides difficile infection.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bartlett JG. Clostridium difficile: history of its role as an enteric pathogen and the current state of knowledge about the organism. Clin Infect Dis. 1994;18 Suppl 4:S265–72. - PubMed
    1. Ricciardi R, Rothenberger DA, Madoff RD, Baxter NN. Increasing prevalence and severity of Clostridium difficile colitis in hospitalized patients in the United States. Arch Surg. 2007; 142:624–31. - PubMed
    1. Lessa FC, Mu Y, Bamberg WM, Beldavs ZG, Dumyati GK, Dunn JR, et al. Burden of Clostridium difficile infection in the United States. N Engl J Med. 2015;372:825–34. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Loo VG, Poirier L, Miller MA, Oughton M, Libman MD, Michaud S, et al. A predominantly clonal multi-institutional outbreak of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea with high morbidity and mortality. N Engl J Med. 2005;353:2442–9. - PubMed
    1. Warny M, Pepin J, Fang A, Killgore G, Thompson A, Brazier J, et al. Toxin production by an emerging strain of Clostridium difficile associated with outbreaks of severe disease in North America and Europe. Lancet. 2005;366: 1079–84. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources