An old drug for a new problem

Forget MRSA - Clostridium difficile  is the new hospital superbug. With C. difficile  infections running at about 55,000 per year in the UK and around 5000 resultant deaths, this gram positive anaerobic bacillus is a cause for concern.  

Clostridium difficile is a natural resident in the gut for ca 3 per cent of the adult population, but many patients acquire the bacillus if they spend more than two weeks in hospital especially if they have been treated with broad spectrum antibiotics. These drugs kill most of the natural gut bacterial flora and allow C. difficile to proliferate. The organism is resistant to most antibiotics and produces toxins and 4-hydroxy-toluene (from tyrosine) leading to serious diarrhoea, colitis and, in severe cases in the elderly, to death.