The October 13 issue of the Open Access journal PLoS Pathogens published research that uncovered how a common hospital bacterium transforms into a deadly super-bug killing increasing numbers of hospital patients worldwide. The health care cost in the U.S. alone amounts to an estimated $3.2 billion each year. The study was led by the Monash University and involved an international team of scientists.

Clostridium difficile is a species of Gram-positive bacteria that causes severe diarrhea and other intestinal disease when competing bacteria in the gut flora have been wiped out by antibiotics and is difficult to treat. Team leader Dr Dena Lyras and lead author Dr Glen Carter, from the Monash University School of Biomedical Sciences managed to associate a naturally occurring mutation in the microorganism Clostridium difficile to severe and debilitating diarrhea in hospital patients undergoing antibiotic therapy.

Dr Lyras explains:

“This mutation effectively wipes out an inbuilt disease regulator, called anti-sigma factor TcdC, producing hypervirulent strains of C. difficile that are resistant to antibiotics and which have been found to circulate in Canada, the US, UK, Europe and Australia.”

The findings indicate that bacterial strains with this mutation can potentially produce more of the harmful toxins that cause disease in susceptible individuals, which are mainly patients 65 years or older.

Dr. Carter comments:

“As we now have a better understanding of these strains, we can design new strategies to prevent, control and treat these infections.”

Written by Petra Rattue