Bloom and bust: intestinal microbiota dynamics in response to hospital exposures and Clostridium difficile colonization or infection.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is the leading infectious cause of nosocomial diarrhea. Hospitalized patients are at increased risk of developing CDI because they are exposed to C. difficile spores through contact with the hospital environment and often receive antibiotics and other medications that can disrupt the integrity of the indigenous intestinal microbiota and impair colonization resistance. Using whole metagenome shotgun sequencing, we examined the diversity and composition of the fecal microbiota in a prospective cohort study of 98 hospitalized patients.

Results

Four patients had asymptomatic C. difficile colonization, and four patients developed CDI. We observed dramatic shifts in the structure of the gut microbiota during hospitalization. In cont

SUBMITTER: Vincent C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4791782 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature