Disease Associated with Clostridium difficile Infection
Authors: Dale N. Gerding
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (1989)

Editorials15 February 1989Disease Associated with Clostridium difficile InfectionDale N. Gerding, MDDale N. Gerding, MDAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-110-4-255 SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ExcerptNot only is it difficult to diagnose gastrointestinal illness caused byClostridium difficileorganisms, it is even difficult to reconcile all the terms that have historically evolved to describe the illness, including pseudomembranous enterocolitis, pseudomembranous colitis, antibiotic-associated colitis, clindamycin-associated colitis, antibiotic-associated pseudomembranous colitis, antibiotic-associated diarrhea,C. difficilecolitis,C. difficilediarrhea, andC. difficile—associated disease (the latter term reflects the spectrum of disease from self-limited diarrhea to colitis and life-threatening toxic megacolon). The clinical description that prompted the discovery of theC. difficileas the causative agent of this disease by Tedesco and colleagues (1) in 1974, was shown in...References1. TedescoBartonAlpers FRD. Clindamycin-associated colitis. Ann Intern Med. 1974;81:429-33. LinkGoogle Scholar2. Bartlett J. Introduction. In: Rolfe RD, Finegold SM, eds. Clostridium Difficile: Its Role in Intestinal Disease. San Diego: Academic Press, Inc. 1988:1-13. CrossrefGoogle Scholar3. SwartzbergMarescaRemington JRJ. Gastrointestinal side effects associated with clindamycin. Arch Intern Med. 1976;136:876-9. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. BartlettChangGurwithGorbachOnderdonk JTMSA. Antibiotic-associated pseudomembranous colitis due to toxin-producing clostridia. N Engl J Med. 1978;298:531-4. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. PetersonOlsonShanholtzerGerding LMCD. 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J Infect Dis. 1986;153:159-62. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar10. MulliganPetersonKwokClabotsGerding MLRCD. Immunoblots and plasmid fingerprints compared with serotyping and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis for typing Clostridium difficile. J Clin Microbiol. 1988;26:41-6. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar11. DevlinAuFouxBradbury HWLW. Restriction endonuclease analysis of nosocomial isolates of Clostridium difficile. J Clin Microbiol. 1987;25:2168-72. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar12. BaconFeketySchabertFaix ARDR. Epidemiology of Clostridium difficile colonization in newborns: results using a bacteriophage and bacteriocin typing system. J Infect Dis. 1988;158:349-54. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar13. Mulligan M. Epidemiology of Clostridium difficile-induced intestinal disease. Rev Infect Dis. 1984;6(Suppl 1):S222-8. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar14. ClabotsPetersonGerding CLD. Characterization of a nosocomial Clostridium difficile outbreak using plasmid profile typing and clindamycin susceptibility. J Infect Dis. 1988;158:731-6. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar15. FeketyKimBrownBattsCudmoreSilva RKDDMJ. Epidemiology of antibiotic-associated colitis: isolation of Clostridium difficile from the hospital environment. Am J Med. 1981;70:906-8. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar16. GerdingJohnsonOlsonWeilerHughesClabots DSMMRC. Prospective controlled study of vinyl glove use to interrupt Clostridium difficile nosocomial transmission. Abstracts of the Eighty-Eighth Annual Meeting of American Society for Microbiology, May 8-13, 1988, Miami Beach, Florida. Abstract #L-32, American Society for Microbiology, Washington DC, 1988;416. Google Scholar17. LynchJacksonCummingsStamm PMMW. Rethinking the role of isolation practices in the prevention of nosocomial infections. Ann Intern Med. 1987;107:243-6. LinkGoogle Scholar18. BenderBennettLaughon BRB. Is Clostridium difficile endemic in chronic-care facilities? Lancet. 1986;2:11-3. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar19. DelmeeVandercamAvesaniMichaux MBVJ. Epidemiology and prevention of Clostridium difficile infections in a leukemia unit. Eur J Clin Microbiol. 1987;6:623-7. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar20. BoltonCulshaw RM. Faecal metronidazole concentrations during oral and intravenous therapy for antibiotic-associated colitis due to Clostridium difficile. Gut. 1986;27:1169-72. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar This content is PDF only. To continue reading please click on the PDF icon. 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