What is it about?
Clostridium difficile infection often comes back after treatment, and recurrences are especially frequent and dangerous in immunocompromised people: patients with HIV, transplant recipients, people with cancer or inflammatory bowel disease. Faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) transfers healthy gut bacteria from a donor to the patient, restoring the protective microbiota, and is very effective in otherwise healthy patients. In this review we gathered the first published experiences of FMT in immunocompromised patients, looking at how well it worked and whether it was safe.
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Photo by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Many clinicians hesitated to offer FMT to immunocompromised patients for fear of transmitting infections. Summarising the early evidence on effectiveness and safety in this group helps physicians weigh benefits and risks for patients who often have the fewest alternatives.
Perspectives
At the time, FMT was moving from an unusual idea to a recognised therapy. I was struck by how much it could help patients trapped in a cycle of C. difficile recurrences, and I wanted to make sure that the most fragile patients were not left out of this progress.
Professor Stefano Di Bella
Universita degli Studi di Trieste
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) for Clostridium difficile infection: Focus on immunocompromised patients, Journal of Infection and Chemotherapy, April 2015, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.jiac.2015.01.011.
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