Clostridium difficile: A "difficult" human pathogenic bacterium  

Clostridium difficile is the leading   

cause of nosocomial- acquired diarrhea in the United States. This tiny organism can cause Clostridium difficile-associated disease (CDAD); symptoms range from diarrhea to colitis to even death. In recent years, CDAD prevalence has been steadily climbing, due to the bacterium's increasing virulence and ability to cause disease.

Before you learn how C. difficile causes disease and why it is so successful in causing disease, you should   check out how C. difficile is classified amongst all forms of life.

Do you like learning about pathogenic bacteria? If so, check out these other pathogenic bacteria webpages!

Neisseria meningitidis---bacterial meningitis

Bacillus anthracis--- Anthrax

Mycobacterium leprae---Leprosy

Legionella pneumophila ---Legionnaire's Disease

Clostridium botulinum---Botulism

Clostridium tetani---Tetanus

                                                                                                     Both pictures on this page were used under Creative commons license
                                                                                                     from Wellcome Images 2009. <URL: http://images.wellcome.ac.uk/>.
                                                                                                     Accessed 8 April 2009.

To learn about organisms other than pathogenic bacteria, click http://multipleorganisms.net