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JAMA. 2006;295:25-27.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

MMWR. 2005;54:1201-1205

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Clostridium difficile is a spore-forming, gram-positive bacillus that produces exotoxins that are pathogenic to humans. C. difficile–associated disease (CDAD) ranges in severity from mild diarrhea to fulminant colitis and death. Antimicrobial use is the primary risk factor for development of CDAD because it disrupts normal bowel flora and promotes C. difficile overgrowth. C. difficile typically has affected older or severely ill patients who are hospital inpatients or residents of long-term–care facilities. Recently, however, both the frequency and severity of health-care–associated CDAD has increased; from 2000 to 2001, the rate of U.S. hospital discharge diagnoses of CDAD increased by 26%.¹ One possible explanation for these increases is the emergence of a previously uncommon strain of C. difficile responsible for severe hospital outbreaks.² Although individual cases of CDAD are not nationally reportable, in 2005, the Pennsylvania Department of Health (PADOH) and CDC received several case reports . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Case Reports