title: Alternative treatments for Clostridium difficile disease: what really works?
abstract: Vancomycin and metronidazole have been used for treating Clostridium difficile-associated disease (CDAD) for the past 25 years, but approximately 20 % of patients develop recurrent disease. The increasing incidence of nosocomial outbreaks, cases of recurrent CDAD and other complications (toxic megacolon, ileus, sepsis) has fuelled the search for different types of treatments. As the understanding of the pathogenesis of this disease has matured, newer treatment strategies that take advantage of these mechanisms have been developed. This review will describe such treatments and examine the evidence for each strategy.
authors.affiliation: University of Washington, HSR&D, 1100 Olive Street, #1400, Seattle, WA 98101, USA.
authors.forename: Lynne V
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: McFarland
mesh_terms: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002353:Carrier State / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000302:isolation & purification; D003015:Clostridium Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D003092:Colitis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D000529:Complementary Therapies; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D008795:Metronidazole / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014640:Vancomycin / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D008795:Metronidazole; D014640:Vancomycin