What is Clostridium difficile infection?
Clostridium difficile is a bacterium (germ). It lives harmlessly in the gut of many people. About 3 in 100 healthy adults and as many as 7 in 10 healthy babies have a number of Clostridium difficile bacteria living in their gut. The number of Clostridium difficile bacteria that live in the gut of healthy people is kept in check by all the other harmless bacteria that live in the gut. So, in other words, some of us normally have small numbers of Clostridium difficile bacteria living in our guts, which do no harm. Clostridium difficile produces spores (like ‘seeds’) which are very hardy and resistant to high temperatures. Spores are passed out with the faeces (stools) of people who have Clostridium difficile in their gut. Spores can persist in the environment (for example, on clothes, bedding, etc) for several months or years. The spores may get onto food, and into the mouth and gut of some people. Spores that get into a human gut develop into mature bacteria. So, this is how some people
