New Grant for Research on Treatment of Shigella and C. difficile

Posted on September 21, 2009 by David Babcock

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a group of researchers $2.87 million for preclinical development of an oral drug to treat Shigella and C. difficile.

Shigella is a bacterium that belongs to a small group of pathogens (including E. coli O157:H7 and Cryptosporidium) that can infect the gut after the ingestion of relatively few organisms, and can cause sudden and severe diarrhea (gastroenteritis) in humans. About 25,000 laboratory-confirmed cases of shigellosis are reported each year in the U.S. Many cases go undiagnosed and/or unreported, however, and the CDC estimates that 450,000 total cases of shigellosis occur in the United States every year.

Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) is a spore-forming, gram-positive anaerobic bacillus that produces two toxins: toxin A and toxin B. These toxins typically cause gastrointestinal disease, often with severe complications.

The new research will focus on Ceragenin™ technology, which is a class of antimicrobial compounds that mimic functions of the body’s own innate immune system. The technology was invented by Paul B. Savage, Ph.D., professor at BYU.

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C. difficile outbreak in St-Hyacinthe claims another life

Posted on November 2, 2006 by Food Poisoning Lawyer

C. difficileCBC.ca reports that the C. difficile outbreak at a Quebec hospital in St-Hyacinthe has killed another person, bringing the death toll to 10 since the bacteria emerged at the health centre in July.

A total of 25 people have been infected with C. difficile, which causes severe diarrhea, at the Centre hospitalier Honoré-Mercier in St-Hyacinthe, an agricultural town southeast of Montreal.

The hospital announced in late October that it had introduced several measures to contain the infection, including restricted visiting rules and a massive disinfection campaign.

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