County of Los Angeles
Department of Public Health
Acute Communicable Disease Control
313 N. Figueroa Street, Room 212
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Phone: (213) 240-7941
Fax: (213) 482-4856
E-Mail:acdc2@ph.lacounty.gov
Have questions about things like where to go for vaccinations or
other health care
services?
Call 2-1-1.
Adobe Reader
Note: PDF documents on this site were created using Adobe Acrobat 5.0 or later. If you are using an earlier version of Adobe Acrobat Reader (4.x or less), document functionality may be reduced.
Acute Communicable Disease Control
Clostridium difficile Clostridium
difficile is a gram-positive, spore-forming
bacillus. Infection is most commonly characterized by
watery diarrhea and abdominal discomfort. Asymptomatic
colonization may occur, especially among persons in
healthcare settings. C. difficile is present in
stool and can be transmitted from person to person or by
a contaminated environment. To cause infection, C.
difficile must be ingested and the normal colonic
flora must be disrupted (e.g., from antibiotic
exposure).