TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Antibiotic-Associated Diarrhea and Clostridium difficile Infection A1 - Valiquette, Louis A1 - Quach, Caroline A2 - Shah, Samir S. A2 - Kemper, Alex R. A2 - Ratner, Adam J. PY - 2019 T2 - Pediatric Infectious Diseases: Essentials for Practice, 2e AB - Antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD), unexplained diarrhea occurring with the administration of antibiotics, is a common complication of antimicrobial therapy for which several underlying mechanisms have been proposed: (1) disturbance of the normal intestinal flora, (2) allergic or toxic effects of the drug on the intestinal mucosa, (3) pharmacologic effects on motility, and (4) overgrowth of toxin-producing Clostridium difficile.C. difficile infection (CDI) develops almost exclusively in the setting of antimicrobial use and is associated with a wide spectrum of symptoms, from mild diarrhea to pseudomembranous colitis, and in some cases toxic megacolon and death.1 Pseudomembranous colitis, characterized by severe inflammation of the inner lining of the colon with the formation of pseudomembranous material, is usually caused by CDI. Other toxin-producing pathogens, such as Staphylococcus aureus,Clostridium perfringens, and Klebsiella oxytoca, have been associated with AAD, but they remain infrequent.2 SN - PB - McGraw-Hill Education CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/03/29 UR - accesspediatrics.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1157322348 ER -