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Clostridium difficile is a Gram-positive spore-forming anaerobe that can be found in the stomach and the intestines of healthy people. There are two forms of C. difficile bacteria – an active form that cannot survive in the environment for long periods of time and the dominant form, a spore, which can survive for a long period of time. Spores are very difficult to remove from surfaces and therefore can contaminate the environment by living on them for weeks to months. Spores cause infection after they have been ingested and have germinated into the active form of C. difficile. When the normal fl ora of the intestinal tract is disrupted (e.g. with antibiotics), C. difficile can multiply and produce toxins that cause mild to very severe diarrhea known as Clostridium diffi cile infection or CDI [1,2]. |
