Nancy is an

energetic 66-year old window who walks three miles every day and does water

aerobics three days a week. When she develops an annoying sinus infection, she

doesn’t let it slow her down; she calls her doctor, gets a prescription for

antibiotics, and takes them as prescribed.

After a couple of

weeks the sinus infection is gone, but Nancy notices that she has tourinate

much more frequently than usual. She has a burning sensation while urinating,

and her back aches. Recognizing the common symptoms of a urinary tract

infection, Nancy tries her favorite home remedy of drinking lots of cranberry

juice-after all; she didn’t get to be a healthy 66 by running to the doctor

with every problem.

However, her

symptoms get worse. The pain spreads to her lower back, she develops a fever,

and she feels so weak she can barely get out of bed. Then she notices her urine

is reddish and contains what looks like pus. Alarmed, Nancy struggles to the

phone and calls her favorite niece, Maya, who’s in nursing school. Maya rushes

over, examines her aunt quickly, and calls 911. Maya rides with Nancy to the

emergency room.

The doctor finds

Escherichia

coli

The doctor explains

that women are a greater risk for urinary tract infections than men.

Furthermore, the antibiotics that Nancy took for her sinus infection killed

normal microbiota that hold

Unfortunately, after

two days in the hospital, Nancy becomes nauseated and develops abdominal

tenderness and massive watery diarrhea. A stool test identifies Clostridium

difficile commonly found in the intestinal tract.

What type of bacteria is C. difficile?