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Probiotics for the prevention and treatment of Clostridium difficile in older patients

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 12:38 authored by Jasmin Islam, J Cohen, Chakravarthi RajkumarChakravarthi Rajkumar, Martin LlewelynMartin Llewelyn
Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is the leading cause of nosocomial diarrhoea in older people, causing substantial morbidity and mortality. The fact that CDI is almost exclusively a disease of older people and the debilitated indicates that patient susceptibility is a major determinant of who gets CDI. It would help efforts to combat this disease if we better understood and could reduce patient susceptibility. In this regard, several strategies are currently under investigation. The use of probiotics for CDI has received particular attention in the medical and lay media. Patients and their carers often ask doctors about them. In this review article, we describe the pathogenesis of CDI before looking at the ageing host in more detail. We discuss how probiotics may work and review the current evidence for their use in CDI.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

Age and Ageing

ISSN

0002-0729

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Issue

6

Volume

41

Page range

706-711

Department affiliated with

  • Clinical and Experimental Medicine Publications

Notes

probiotics, Clostridium difficile, immunesenescence, antibiotic-associated diarrhoea, intestinal microflora, older people

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2012-10-17

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