Fecal Transplant

Fecal Transplant Pills Effective for C difficile

Laird Harrison

Oct 03, 2013

EDITORS' RECOMMENDATIONS

• C difficile: Synthetic Stool Substitute Clears Infection
• Stool Transplants Stop 90% of C difficile Recurrences
• Clostridium difficle Infection News & Perspectives

SAN FRANCISCO — It is not the most appetizing prospect, but pills containing a concentrate of fecal bacteria can stop recurrent Clostridium difficile infections by rebalancing the bacteria in the gut, a new study shows.

The treatment is a potential advance over conventional fecal transplants, which are done with an enema or nasal tube, said lead investigator Thomas Louie, MD, a professor of infectious diseases and microbiology at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada.

"A bright light dawned on me," Dr. Louie said. "I would turn it into pills." He presented the study here at IDWeek 2013.

C difficile sickens half a million Americans and kills more than 14,000 every year, said Tom Moore, MD, professor of medicine at the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Wichita, who moderated a news conference about the new treatment./.../