Clostridioides difficile, often referred to as C. difficile or C. diff, is a bacterium that causes severe intestinal illness and, as its name suggests, can be difficult to study and treat. Approximately 1 in 6 patients infected with C. difficile will be reinfected within two months. Yet scientists have not figured out why C. difficileinfection is more difficult to treat in some patients versus others. The human gut is filled with trillions of microbes, and these microbes influence the virulence of various pathogens, but until now, scientists had little understanding of how C. difficile cooperates with the rich collection of microorganisms in the gastrointestinal tract.
In a new study in Nature, researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have found that Enterococcus — an antibiotic-resistant, opportunistic pathogen — works together with C. difficile, reshaping and…
