Clostridium Difficile

Abstract: Antibiotic resistance in becoming more prevalent across the world, and has caused the creation of resistant bacteria along with a variety of side effects. Infectious diseases are becoming ever more difficult to combat. Clostridium difficile is the primary infection associated with antibiotic resistant induced diarrhea, one of the major side effects which can be caused by any antibiotic. Although antibiotics dominated the original response to this infection, Fecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT) has been discovered to be one of the most effective ways to combat Clostridium difficile. Compared to other methods of antibiotics, where the Clostridium difficile becomes resistant and relapse of the infection occurs, FMT is a much cheaper, …show more content…
This originally controversial therapy is becoming more popular and may potentially be able to combat a variety of other diseases.
Infectious diseases are caused when an a pathogen is introduced into an organism in which the pathogenic microorganisms causes harm to the organisms tissue. It should be noted that infection is the process where in a pathogen enters and grows within an organism, and a disease occurs when this pathogen disables the normal tissue function of the organism. (Bethesda, 2007). Bacterial infections, once thought to have been killed off by antibiotics, are returning at an alarming rate. Infectious diseases are developing resistant bacteria that are able to fend of the antibiotics. Antibiotics have led as the primary defense for all infectious diseases, and have saved millions of lives since their creation. Antibiotics work to disrupt organism growth through a series of mechanisms. Antibiotics often work to prevent one or a combination of cell wall synthesis, cell membrane, protein synthesis, and nucleic acid synthesis. By restricting these different processes, antibiotics make it difficult for pathogens to live. Resistant bacteria can come about via mutations, horizontal gene transfer, and natural selection. As …show more content…
When antibiotics attack, they attack not only the harmful pathogenic microbiota, but they helpful microbiota that line the human intestine. These helpful bacteria are responsible for killing of Clostridium difficile, but when enough die off it allows for the Clostridium difficile to colonize into larger groups, and thus infecting the host organism. CDI has been directly related as one of the main causes of diarrhea. Although diarrhea is the main effect, this infection also causes abdominal cramps, fever, and toxic megacolon. Toxins that are released by the Clostridium difficile can cause damage to the inner linings of the colon. While some antibiotics have been created to target C. diff. directly, new resistant strains of C. diff. are appearing at a faster rate than which they can be fought off. C. diff. has an extremely high capability to change as a result of genomic and metabolic pathways (Spigaglia, 2016). The antibiotic resistance observed by Clostridium difficile has led to the research of new ways to combat this infection. Antibiotics such as cephalosporins and clindamycin have been found to lead to a higher proportion of Clostridium difficile infection in people. Since this recognition, these antibiotics have been better regulated for their usage against CDI. (Spigaglia, 2016). One of the most virulent strains is the RT027 (Spigaglia, 2016). This strain has led to

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