Causes and symptoms of clostridium difficile colitis

Clostridium difficile is also known as C. difficile in short. There are bacteria that cause swelling and irritation of the large intestine or colon. The inflammation that is caused by these bacteria is called colitis. Though it is a common infection and not hard to cure, many Americans have lost their lives to this infection therefore making it important to know what causes it and how one can prevent and treat it.

The most common symptoms of clostridium difficile colitis are diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps which can be cured by antibiotics. Antibiotics, however, are one of the main causes of this disease as they kill the good bacteria along with the bad ones making clostridium difficile active and taking control by releasing toxins in the large intestine. The antibiotics used to cure clostridium difficile colitis are different from the ones that caused it.

C. difficile bacteria are present everywhere in the environment around you. They can be found in soil, air, water, human, and animal waste and even in some food products, such as, meat that is processed. Some people naturally carry the bacteria without any trouble, these people are usually healthy as only a healthy body can have this bacteria present in their large intestine without any trouble or ill effects.

Lack of hygiene is one of the most common reasons people face this problem. It is also contagious as it can easily get passed on from person to person when common hygiene is not practiced. Infected people can pass it on to others by coming in contact with them after using the restroom without washing their hands.

Health care facility like hospitals and clinics are places where people can get infected with this disease in case of improper hygiene methods. The risk of getting infected by clostridium difficile colitis rises if one is already suffering from inflammatory bowel disease or colorectal cancer. People with low immunity catch many diseases easily inkling C. difficile.

Symptoms of C. difficile vary from mild to severe depending on the depth of the infection. In most cases, this infection is mild and shows mild symptoms such as diarrhea for a few days, abdominal aches, cramps, and even tenderness in the abdominal area. Severe infection gives symptoms like watery diarrhea of 1015 times in a day, abdominal cramps, rapid heart rate, fever, blood and/or pus in stool, nausea, dehydration, and other such problems.

When more than one such symptoms occur, take it to a doctor so you can start the treatment in case you are infected with C. difficile.