We face some pretty grim treatment options for the sake of our health. We swallow foul-tasting pills, vaccinate ourselves with live microorganisms, rub smelly tinctures into our wounds, and ask surgeons to cut us open.
A virulent new strain of a bacterial stomach bug called Clostridium difficile is becoming more common in Australian hospitals.
Whether you call it by its scientific name, fecal microbiota transplantation, or by the tongue in cheek equivalent, “transpoosion,” there is no getting around it – this treatment for Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) involves introducing a blenderized sample of a healthy person’s stool into the gut of the infected individual.
Faecal transplantation is a promising option for C. difficile infections, yet it’s not a mainstream treatment. Kate Woods investigates.
INTERNATIONAL air passengers would be forced to drink a sachet of probiotic formula before landing in Australia under a proposal by one of the state’s leading gastroenterologists aimed at preventing an outbreak of a deadly bug ravaging North America.
ELLEN Blackwell was close to death. The Baltimore woman was spending about $US7000 a month on antibiotics to treat a year-long Clostridium difficile infection, yet was unable to stomach anything other than crackers and water.
Quite simply, HPI involves infusing a patient with someone else’s faeces. It’s a confronting treatment, but one which patients suffering from the tummy superbug, Clostridium difficile, are prepared to undertake in order to get their lives back to normal.
YOU can give it, take it or cop it. It can hit the fan and sometimes life forces you to eat a sandwich made from it, but it’s also proving to be a cure for a deadly superbug.