As a few members of this group have testified, clostridium (C) difficile infection is an unpleasant experience. As the name suggests, the infection can be difficult to eliminate from the body even in the immune competent. In the immune-compromised, the difficulty is magnified and the risk of sepsis means that hospitalisation may be recommended.
The bacterium, which usually lives harmlessly among the other gut flora, may take advantage of gut dysbiosis following a course of antibiotics, multiply to infection levels and cause diarrhoea. The infection can be passed to others through the faeces.
The standard treatment for C diff infection has been a course of an antibiotic specific for the C diff bacterium. Inevitably, though, the antibiotic kills species of "good" bacteria, further imbalancing the microbiome and paving the way for re-infection. Indeed, 15-25 % of patients with C diff infections, despite successful treatment of initial episodes, will have recurrence of diarrhoea following withdrawal of specific antibiotic therapy gut.bmj.com/content/49/1/152
As long as six years ago Australian researchers were advocating poo transplants for C diff infections, saying "The study findings are in line with recent European advice strongly encouraging setting up centres specialising in poo transplants to treat C. difficile diarrhoea". healthunlocked.com/cllsuppo...
In the UK, faecal transplants are now approved for use in the NHS to treat adults with a third episode of recurrent C difficile infection nice.org.uk/guidance/ipg485...
In the USA, the FDA has just approved the first orally-administered microbiota-based therapeutic to prevent recurrence of C difficile infection. The drug, from Seres Therapeutics and Nestlé Health Science, is expected to be available in June of this year.
