Team:Dundee/Project

The Problem

Clostridium difficile (C. diff) is a gram-positive bacterium that lives naturally in the gut. In healthy individuals, the levels of C. diff  are kept constant due to competition with other naturally occurring bacterial species in the gut flora. However, when patients receive large doses of antibiotics, competing gut flora can be wiped out. This can allow the population of C. diff  to increase to a level where infection can be caused and in some cases resulting in severe colitis. C. diff  has therefore become a major cause of hospital acquired infections, with, for example, some 2645 patients in hospitals in England and Wales found suffering from C. diff  induced colitis in March-May 2010.

Infection rates have also been high at Dundee's Ninewells Hospital, which is affiliated with the University of Dundee. As a result, in 2010 a ward at the hospital was closed following the deaths of 5 elderly patients due to C. diff   infections. So for us, this is also a very local health problem. Up until now, there have been two ways of treating this problem: prescribe more antibiotics, with the added difficulty of possibly causing more resistance to build-up, or by means of faecal transplant. A faecal transplant involves the faeces of a closely related person being transplanted directly into the patient's colon or through a drip into the stomach. This has been proven to be effective in test cases, but is obviously an unsavoury form of treatment for many patients and so the idea of creating an alternative gave rise to this project.