Antibiotics Caused Infection To Spread
U.S. doctors
fear an infection that can result in violent diarrhea, colitis and, in
some cases death may be breaking into the general population.
People contract
Clostridium difficile, known as C. diff, after using commonly prescribed
antibiotics.
C. diff, has
been seen in patients hospitalized or in nursing homes following antibiotic
therapy.
It normally
lives in the intestine and is kept under control by other bacteria, but
all bacteria are killed by antibiotics, and C. diff can cause a debilitating
infection, reported the Chicago Tribune.
"These days,
I must be seeing a case a week," said Dr. Robert Craig, a gastroenterologist
at Northwestern University. "I'm diagnosing people over the phone, it's
becoming so common."
The condition
is different from the diarrhea usually associated with antibiotic use --
patients with C. diff may experience diarrhea up to 20 times a day and
other complications.
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