Clostridium

• Strict anaerobes
• Gram positive bacilli
• Sporing

C. perfringens

Diseases

• Gas gangrene “bubble wrap skin – bad
• Cellulitis
• Diabetic ulcers
• Food poisoning

Treatment

• Debridement of all necrotic tissue.
• Penicillin prophylaxis for amputations
• Metronidazole for infections

C. tetani

Disease

• Tetanus
• Spastic paralysis

Treatment

• Tetanus toxoid vacinnation, lasts ten years

C. botulinum

Disease

• Home pickling!
• Botulism
• Flaccid paralysis

Treatment

• Penicillin, or metronidazole

C. difficile

About

• Common in hospitals
• Normal colon commonsal
• Patiens get all the other bacteria in their GI tract knocked out by antibiotics, and so this grows

Disease

• Causes diarrhoea (commonest cause of hospital acquired)
• Can spread person-to-person
• Antibiotic associated
• If bad can cause pseudomembraneous colitis

Treatment

• IV or oral metronidazole
• Oral vancomycin