RT Book, Section A1 Valiquette, Louis A1 Pépin, Jacques A2 Shah, Samir S. SR Print(0) ID 6908309 T1 Chapter 41. Antibiotic-Associated Diarrhea and Clostridium difficile-Associated Disease T2 Pediatric Practice: Infectious Disease YR 2009 FD 2009 PB The McGraw-Hill Companies PP New York, NY SN 978-0-07-148924-9 LK accesspediatrics.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=6908309 RD 2024/03/29 AB Antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD) or 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 and/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–associated disease (CDAD) is an infection of the colon that 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. Pseudomembranous colitis, characterized by severe inflammation of the inner lining of the colon with the formation of pseudomembranous material, is usually caused by C. difficile infection. Other toxin-producing pathogens have been associated with AAD, like Staphylococcus aureus,1Clostridium perfringens,1 and Klebsiella oxytoca,2 but they remain infrequent.