UPDATES ON THE PATHOGENESIS, EPIDEMIOLOGY AND DIAGNOSIS OF CLOSTRIDIUM DIFFICILE INFECTION

Abstract

The infection with Clostridium difficile (CDI) is a cause of acute gastroenteritis (AGE), which is likely to severely develop into pseudomembranouse colitis (PMC), ileus and toxic megacolon. At the begining, CDI was considered a nosocomial infection, later proven to be communitary-acquired infections. The susceptibility for CDI is related to the alteration in intestinal microbiota after antibiotics or immunosuppressant treatments, postoperative disruption of mucosal barriers, trauma, tumour proliferation, ischemia or necrosis, as well as in other conditions caused by aging, alcoholism, diabetes, neoplasias, immunosuppression, angiopathies. Concern regarding the outbreak of new CDI-epidemics is still high, due to genetic and bacterial variability and spores resistance in outer environment. The diagnosis of CDI is a continuous challenge for clinicians, based on the correlation between clinical, epidemiological data and complex laboratory investigations.

Keywords

• clostridium difficile
• toxines
• infection control
• diagnostic methods