ABSTRACT
Pseudomembranous enterocolitis (PME) is the consequence of filterable, heat-labile enterotoxin and cytotoxin elaborated by selected strains of Clostridium difficile. In selected cases, the antibiotic in question eradicates that portion of the gastrointestinal tract flora that suppresses the growth of C. difficile. The loss of bacterial interference permits the resistant C. difficile to numerically partially fill the biologic void created and, in so doing, elaborate the toxins.A single dose of an antibiotic given for cesarean section prophylaxis is capable of inducing disease. Privitera et al. (1991) studied C. difficile intestinal colonization following a single 2 g intravenous dose of either cephalosporin or mezlocillin. C. difficile was detected in 23% of patients who had received cephalosporin, in 3.3% of patients given mezlocillin, and in none of the 15 controls who had been given no antibiotics.
