CLOSTRIDIUM DIFFICILE
Causes
colitis, which is characterized by inflammation of the colon and diarrhea.
Pseudomembranous covering can develop on the wall of the colon. The covering, which comprises inflamed mucosa with raised yellow plaques, looks like a furry rug in gross images.
Colitis is associated with
antibiotic use, which can kill off the normal, harmless gastrointestinal bacteria and allow for Clostridium difficile overgrowth.
CLOSTRIDIUM PERFRINGENS can cause soft tissue infections, including myocystis, cellulitis, and myonecrosis.
Myonecrosis, which is also called gas gangrene, is characterized by areas of necrosis that produce gaseous bubbles in the tissues.
Food poisoning
CLOSTRIDIUM TETANI, which can be found in the soil, causes tetanus.
Tetanus is characterized by spastic paralysis; show that this can produce the characteristic extension of the head, neck, and spine, called opistotonos.
CLOSTRIDIUM BOTULINUM causes
botulism; the bacteria can be found in canned goods, and is the reason that infants under one year of age should not be given honey (by childhood, most individuals are resistant to the pathogen in honey).
– Botulism is characterized by
descending flaccid paralysis and respiratory failure.
