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Clostridium difficile as a Pathogen Involved in Antimicrobial Agent-Associated Diarrhea, Colitis, and Pseudomembranous Colitis, Page 1 of 2
< Previous page Next page > /docserver/preview/fulltext/10.1128/9781555818814/9781555818814_Chap4.15-1.gif /docserver/preview/fulltext/10.1128/9781555818814/9781555818814_Chap4.15-2.gifAbstract:
Clostridium difficile is the major cause of nosocomial diarrhea and the primary pathogen responsible for pseudomembranous colitis. In the United States, there are >300,000 cases per year of antimicrobial agent-associated diarrhea, colitis, or pseudomembranous colitis caused by this organism and its toxins. In a recent review article, one hospital reported that medical expenditures associated with C. difficile-associated disease were almost $1,000,000 per year and a another review article suggested that that health care costs in the United States were approaching $1 billion annually ( 1 , 2 ). C. difficile can also be a rare cause of abscesses, wound infections, osteomyelitis, pleuritis, peritonitis, septicemia, and urogenital tract infections; for isolation and identification of C. difficile in these extraintestinal sites, see procedure 4.12, which covers anaerobic Gram-positive bacilli.