JAMA. 2016;315(2):137138. doi:10.1001/jama.2015.18100
In recent years, Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) has emerged as an increasingly common and frequently serious clinical entity.1 In 2011, C difficile was responsible for nearly 500 000 infections and was associated with approximately 29 000 deaths in the United States.2 Since the emergence of hypervirulent strains in the early 2000s, CDI has also become less responsive to standard therapy. Recurrent CDI is particularly problematic; about one-fourth of patients will develop recurrent infection.3 The proportion is even higher among older adults and those with certain comorbidities. In a subset of patients, CDI continues to recur and is often refractory to extended courses of antimicrobial agents. Increasingly, clinicians are using fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) (“stool transplant”) in these circumstances.1,4
Comment
FMT restores the colonic microbiota to a more healthy state
CITATION(S):
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2480991&JamaNetworkReader=True
