Clostridium Difficile

Key points

• Clostridium difficile is a Gram positive rod often encountered in hospital practice. It produces an exotoxin which causes intestinal damage leading to a syndrome called pseudomembranous colitis.
• abdominal pain
• a raised white blood cell count is characteristic
• if severe toxic megacolon may develop Diagnosis is made by detecting Clostridium difficile toxin (CDT) in the stool Management
• first-line therapy is oral metronidazole for 10-14 days