Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is a major source of morbidity and mortality for hospitalized patients. Although most patients have a clinical response to existing antimicrobial therapies, recurrent infection develops in up to 30% of patients. Fecal microbiota transplant is a novel approach to this complex problem, with an efficacy rate of nearly 90% in the setting of multiple recurrent CDI. This review covers the current epidemiology of CDI (including toxigenic and nontoxigenic strains, risk factors for infection, and recurrent infection), methods of diagnosis, existing first-line therapies in CDI, the role of fecal microbiota transplant for multiple recurrent CDIs, and the potential use of fecal microbial transplant for patients with severe or refractory infection.
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1 July 2016
Symposium New Interventions in Transplant Michael Petty|
July 01 2016
Clostridium difficile Infection and Fecal Microbiota Transplant
Alyssa Liubakka, MD;
Alyssa Liubakka, MD
Alyssa Liubakka is an Internal Medicine Resident, Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota, 420 Delaware Street SE, MMC 284, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (e-mail: liuba006@umn.edu). Byron P. Vaughn is an Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, and part of the Microbiota Therapeutics Program, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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Byron P. Vaughn, MD
Byron P. Vaughn, MD
Alyssa Liubakka is an Internal Medicine Resident, Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota, 420 Delaware Street SE, MMC 284, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (e-mail: liuba006@umn.edu). Byron P. Vaughn is an Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, and part of the Microbiota Therapeutics Program, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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AACN Adv Crit Care (2016) 27 (3): 324–337.
Citation
Alyssa Liubakka, Byron P. Vaughn; Clostridium difficile Infection and Fecal Microbiota Transplant. AACN Adv Crit Care 1 July 2016; 27 (3): 324–337. doi: https://doi.org/10.4037/aacnacc2016703
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