Clostridium difficile is a Gram-positive enteric pathogen that is a significant

Question

Clostridium difficile is a Gram-positive enteric pathogen that is a significant concern in hospital settings due to resistance to many types of antibiotics. A healthy individual can normally resist infection by this pathogen, but under certain conditions an individual can become infected and develop severe colitis that can be life-threatening. One such condition is treatment of patients with broad-spectrum antibiotics.

A. Given that infection by this pathogen occurs under certain conditions, such as broad-spectrum antibiotic treatment, how would you characterize this pathogen? (3 points)

B. Other factors that may contribute to developing C. difficile infection are changes in the gastrointestinal flora with age or disease, gastrointestinal surgery and use of antiperistaltic drugs. Why do you think these factors influence C. difficile infection? You don’t have to explain each factor individually, just think about the common basis of these factors. Hint: think about the human relationship with the majority of microbes in the gut. (7 points)

Explanation / Answer

A) This pathogen may be characterized by these tests: a) Cytotoxicity assay b) Testing of stool samples by PCR c) Toxin ELISA test

B) The typical features of Clostridium infection is that upon exposure to bile salts they get converted to vegetative cells. Thus if any kind of change in the stomach environment exposes a human to broad spectrum antibiotics or anything which influences bils salt secretion affects this infection. Basically the antibiotics would kill a majority of bacteria in the gut which would allow Clostridium to thrive by forming a pseudomembrane.

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