Bacteria mix offers hope for those with C. diff
Researchers have hit on a potentially novel way to fight Clostridium difficile: a cocktail of six different types of bacteria.C. diff is estimated to cause from 14,000 to 30,000 deaths each year in the U.S. and can be a particular scourge in nursing homes. With a significant number of victims proving to be resistant to antibiotics, some physicians have explored fecal transplants.
But a United Kingdom microbiologist may have hit on a less controversial alternative: a bacterial cocktail. While the tests, conducted at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, have been performed only on mice thus far, scientists believe they may have set the stage for a suppository that could cure C. diff relapses.
The paper was published in October's PLOS Pathogens.
