\n
A potentially critical inflammation of the colon, triggered by a toxin released by the bacterium Clostridium difficile, which proliferates swiftly after the administration of antibiotics.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Inflammation of the mucous lining of the colon that develops as a complication of antibiotic use. Overuse of antibiotics results in the death of bacteria that normally reside in the colon and control the growth of other organisms. When these protective bacteria are no longer present, an overgrowth of the bacteria Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-p"],"yoast_head":"\n
Pseudomembranous colitis - Definition of Pseudomembranous colitis<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Inflammation of the mucous lining of the colon that develops as a complication of antibiotic use. Overuse of antibiotics results in the death of bacteria that normally reside in the colon and control the growth of other organisms. When these protective bacteria are no longer present, an overgrowth of the bacteria Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) may develop. The C. difficile bacteria produce a toxin that causes inflammation, which can result in severe watery diarrhea. Necrosis (death of tissue cells) and toxemia (the presence of poisons in the bloodstream) can occur in severe cases. An antibiotic is prescribed to fight the infection. Severe pseudomembranous colitis can be life- threatening and normally requires hospitalization.Colitis associated with antibiotic therapy and, less commonly, with chronic debilitating illnesses in adult patients in the community. It is caused by one of two exotoxins produced by Clostridium difficile, which is part of the normal intestinal flora. Broad-spectrum antibiotics disrupt the normal balance of the intestinal flora and allow an overgrowth of strains that produce toxins. The exotoxins damage the mucosa of the colon and produce a pseudomembrane composed of inflammatory exudate. The symptoms \u2014 foul-smelling diarrhea with gross blood and mucus, abdominal cramps, fever, and leukocytosis \u2014 usually begin 4 to 10 days after the start of antibiotic therapy. The disease is treated by discontinuing previously prescribed antibiotics and beginning therapy with oral metronidazole; use of vancomycin should be limited to patients who do not respond to metronidazole. Diarrhea may reappear in approx. 20% of patients after treatment, necessitating a second course of therapy.A potentially critical inflammation of the colon, triggered by a toxin released by the bacterium Clostridium difficile, which proliferates swiftly after the administration of antibiotics.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/pseudomembranous-colitis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pseudomembranous colitis - Definition of Pseudomembranous colitis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Inflammation of the mucous lining of the colon that develops as a complication of antibiotic use. Overuse of antibiotics results in the death of bacteria that normally reside in the colon and control the growth of other organisms. When these protective bacteria are no longer present, an overgrowth of the bacteria Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) may develop. The C. difficile bacteria produce a toxin that causes inflammation, which can result in severe watery diarrhea. Necrosis (death of tissue cells) and toxemia (the presence of poisons in the bloodstream) can occur in severe cases. An antibiotic is prescribed to fight the infection. Severe pseudomembranous colitis can be life- threatening and normally requires hospitalization.Colitis associated with antibiotic therapy and, less commonly, with chronic debilitating illnesses in adult patients in the community. It is caused by one of two exotoxins produced by Clostridium difficile, which is part of the normal intestinal flora. Broad-spectrum antibiotics disrupt the normal balance of the intestinal flora and allow an overgrowth of strains that produce toxins. The exotoxins damage the mucosa of the colon and produce a pseudomembrane composed of inflammatory exudate. The symptoms \u2014 foul-smelling diarrhea with gross blood and mucus, abdominal cramps, fever, and leukocytosis \u2014 usually begin 4 to 10 days after the start of antibiotic therapy. The disease is treated by discontinuing previously prescribed antibiotics and beginning therapy with oral metronidazole; use of vancomycin should be limited to patients who do not respond to metronidazole. Diarrhea may reappear in approx. 20% of patients after treatment, necessitating a second course of therapy.A potentially critical inflammation of the colon, triggered by a toxin released by the bacterium Clostridium difficile, which proliferates swiftly after the administration of antibiotics.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/pseudomembranous-colitis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Glossary\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-09-19T08:27:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-06-20T10:52:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Glossary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Glossary\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/pseudomembranous-colitis\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/pseudomembranous-colitis\/\",\"name\":\"Pseudomembranous colitis - Definition of Pseudomembranous colitis\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-09-19T08:27:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-20T10:52:47+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/#\/schema\/person\/ccfef987a4882e6356ae6d77d33e74c5\"},\"description\":\"Inflammation of the mucous lining of the colon that develops as a complication of antibiotic use. Overuse of antibiotics results in the death of bacteria that normally reside in the colon and control the growth of other organisms. When these protective bacteria are no longer present, an overgrowth of the bacteria Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) may develop. The C. difficile bacteria produce a toxin that causes inflammation, which can result in severe watery diarrhea. Necrosis (death of tissue cells) and toxemia (the presence of poisons in the bloodstream) can occur in severe cases. An antibiotic is prescribed to fight the infection. Severe pseudomembranous colitis can be life- threatening and normally requires hospitalization.Colitis associated with antibiotic therapy and, less commonly, with chronic debilitating illnesses in adult patients in the community. It is caused by one of two exotoxins produced by Clostridium difficile, which is part of the normal intestinal flora. Broad-spectrum antibiotics disrupt the normal balance of the intestinal flora and allow an overgrowth of strains that produce toxins. The exotoxins damage the mucosa of the colon and produce a pseudomembrane composed of inflammatory exudate. The symptoms \u2014 foul-smelling diarrhea with gross blood and mucus, abdominal cramps, fever, and leukocytosis \u2014 usually begin 4 to 10 days after the start of antibiotic therapy. The disease is treated by discontinuing previously prescribed antibiotics and beginning therapy with oral metronidazole; use of vancomycin should be limited to patients who do not respond to metronidazole. Diarrhea may reappear in approx. 20% of patients after treatment, necessitating a second course of therapy.A potentially critical inflammation of the colon, triggered by a toxin released by the bacterium Clostridium difficile, which proliferates swiftly after the administration of antibiotics.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/pseudomembranous-colitis\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/pseudomembranous-colitis\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/pseudomembranous-colitis\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Pseudomembranous colitis\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/\",\"name\":\"Glossary\",\"description\":\"Difinitions\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/#\/schema\/person\/ccfef987a4882e6356ae6d77d33e74c5\",\"name\":\"Glossary\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/author\/adminglossary\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pseudomembranous colitis - Definition of Pseudomembranous colitis","description":"Inflammation of the mucous lining of the colon that develops as a complication of antibiotic use. Overuse of antibiotics results in the death of bacteria that normally reside in the colon and control the growth of other organisms. When these protective bacteria are no longer present, an overgrowth of the bacteria Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) may develop. The C. difficile bacteria produce a toxin that causes inflammation, which can result in severe watery diarrhea. Necrosis (death of tissue cells) and toxemia (the presence of poisons in the bloodstream) can occur in severe cases. An antibiotic is prescribed to fight the infection. Severe pseudomembranous colitis can be life- threatening and normally requires hospitalization.Colitis associated with antibiotic therapy and, less commonly, with chronic debilitating illnesses in adult patients in the community. It is caused by one of two exotoxins produced by Clostridium difficile, which is part of the normal intestinal flora. Broad-spectrum antibiotics disrupt the normal balance of the intestinal flora and allow an overgrowth of strains that produce toxins. The exotoxins damage the mucosa of the colon and produce a pseudomembrane composed of inflammatory exudate. The symptoms \u2014 foul-smelling diarrhea with gross blood and mucus, abdominal cramps, fever, and leukocytosis \u2014 usually begin 4 to 10 days after the start of antibiotic therapy. The disease is treated by discontinuing previously prescribed antibiotics and beginning therapy with oral metronidazole; use of vancomycin should be limited to patients who do not respond to metronidazole. Diarrhea may reappear in approx. 20% of patients after treatment, necessitating a second course of therapy.A potentially critical inflammation of the colon, triggered by a toxin released by the bacterium Clostridium difficile, which proliferates swiftly after the administration of antibiotics.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/pseudomembranous-colitis\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Pseudomembranous colitis - Definition of Pseudomembranous colitis","og_description":"Inflammation of the mucous lining of the colon that develops as a complication of antibiotic use. Overuse of antibiotics results in the death of bacteria that normally reside in the colon and control the growth of other organisms. When these protective bacteria are no longer present, an overgrowth of the bacteria Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) may develop. The C. difficile bacteria produce a toxin that causes inflammation, which can result in severe watery diarrhea. Necrosis (death of tissue cells) and toxemia (the presence of poisons in the bloodstream) can occur in severe cases. An antibiotic is prescribed to fight the infection. Severe pseudomembranous colitis can be life- threatening and normally requires hospitalization.Colitis associated with antibiotic therapy and, less commonly, with chronic debilitating illnesses in adult patients in the community. It is caused by one of two exotoxins produced by Clostridium difficile, which is part of the normal intestinal flora. Broad-spectrum antibiotics disrupt the normal balance of the intestinal flora and allow an overgrowth of strains that produce toxins. The exotoxins damage the mucosa of the colon and produce a pseudomembrane composed of inflammatory exudate. The symptoms \u2014 foul-smelling diarrhea with gross blood and mucus, abdominal cramps, fever, and leukocytosis \u2014 usually begin 4 to 10 days after the start of antibiotic therapy. The disease is treated by discontinuing previously prescribed antibiotics and beginning therapy with oral metronidazole; use of vancomycin should be limited to patients who do not respond to metronidazole. Diarrhea may reappear in approx. 20% of patients after treatment, necessitating a second course of therapy.A potentially critical inflammation of the colon, triggered by a toxin released by the bacterium Clostridium difficile, which proliferates swiftly after the administration of antibiotics.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/pseudomembranous-colitis\/","og_site_name":"Glossary","article_published_time":"2021-09-19T08:27:20+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-06-20T10:52:47+00:00","author":"Glossary","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Glossary","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/pseudomembranous-colitis\/","url":"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/pseudomembranous-colitis\/","name":"Pseudomembranous colitis - Definition of Pseudomembranous colitis","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-09-19T08:27:20+00:00","dateModified":"2023-06-20T10:52:47+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/#\/schema\/person\/ccfef987a4882e6356ae6d77d33e74c5"},"description":"Inflammation of the mucous lining of the colon that develops as a complication of antibiotic use. Overuse of antibiotics results in the death of bacteria that normally reside in the colon and control the growth of other organisms. When these protective bacteria are no longer present, an overgrowth of the bacteria Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) may develop. The C. difficile bacteria produce a toxin that causes inflammation, which can result in severe watery diarrhea. Necrosis (death of tissue cells) and toxemia (the presence of poisons in the bloodstream) can occur in severe cases. An antibiotic is prescribed to fight the infection. Severe pseudomembranous colitis can be life- threatening and normally requires hospitalization.Colitis associated with antibiotic therapy and, less commonly, with chronic debilitating illnesses in adult patients in the community. It is caused by one of two exotoxins produced by Clostridium difficile, which is part of the normal intestinal flora. Broad-spectrum antibiotics disrupt the normal balance of the intestinal flora and allow an overgrowth of strains that produce toxins. The exotoxins damage the mucosa of the colon and produce a pseudomembrane composed of inflammatory exudate. The symptoms \u2014 foul-smelling diarrhea with gross blood and mucus, abdominal cramps, fever, and leukocytosis \u2014 usually begin 4 to 10 days after the start of antibiotic therapy. The disease is treated by discontinuing previously prescribed antibiotics and beginning therapy with oral metronidazole; use of vancomycin should be limited to patients who do not respond to metronidazole. Diarrhea may reappear in approx. 20% of patients after treatment, necessitating a second course of therapy.A potentially critical inflammation of the colon, triggered by a toxin released by the bacterium Clostridium difficile, which proliferates swiftly after the administration of antibiotics.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/pseudomembranous-colitis\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/pseudomembranous-colitis\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/pseudomembranous-colitis\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Pseudomembranous colitis"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/","name":"Glossary","description":"Difinitions","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/#\/schema\/person\/ccfef987a4882e6356ae6d77d33e74c5","name":"Glossary","url":"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/author\/adminglossary\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129916"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129916\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":230586,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129916\/revisions\/230586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthbenefitstimes.com\/glossary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}