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CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
C. diff (also known as Clostridioides difficile or C. difficile) is a germ (bacterium) that causes diarrhea and colitis (an inflammation of the colon).
It’s estimated to cause almost half a million infections in the United States each year.
About 1 in 6 patients who get C. diff will get it again in the subsequent 2-8 weeks.
One in 11 people over age 65 diagnosed with a healthcare-associated C. diff infection die within one month.
https://www.cdc.gov/cdiff/what-is.html
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Excerpts from:
Clin Endosc. 2021 Mar; 54(2): 157–160.
Published online 2021 Mar 30. doi: 10.5946/ce.2021.072
PMCID: PMC8039753
PMID: 33827154
Fecal Microbiota Transplantation: Is It Safe?
Seon-Young Park1 and Geom Seog Seo2
Abstract
Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is an accepted procedure for the management of recurrent Clostridioides difficile infections. FMT is generally considered safe and well-tolerated – even in high-risk patients. Most short-term risks are mild and known to be associated with delivery methods. Long-term side effects have not been established, and no signs of harm have been found to date. However, causality for several microbiome-associated diseases has to be established. Even though FMT is generally considered safe with strict donor screening, serious adverse events have been recently associated with the FMT product from the stool bank, where screening for multi-drug resistant organisms is not included in protocols. Here, we discuss the adverse events associated with FMT and safety issues.
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INTRODUCTION
Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is an accepted procedure for managing recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI). FMT is generally considered safe and well-tolerated – even in high-risk patients. Most short-term risks are mild and known to be associated with delivery methods. Long-term side effects have not been established, and no signs of harm have been found to date. However, causality for several microbiome-disease associations should be established.
In this review, we discuss the adverse events associated with FMT, as well as its safety, based on clinical studies and systematic reviews on treatment for CDI.
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CONCLUSIONS
FMT is generally considered safe, and a recent study suggested that it is well-tolerated in high-risk patients. Rigorous donor screening and testing should be mandated to minimize the risk of FMT, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Naturopaths ‘not bound by science,’ lawyer argues in B.C. hearing on fecal transplants for autism
Jason Klop is petitioning for judge to strike down ban on FMT sales and probes into his business
Bethany Lindsay · CBC News · Posted: Jun 29, 2022 9:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: June 29, 2022
The lawyer for a Fraser Valley naturopath facing investigation for his business selling fecal microbiota transplants to families of autistic children argued in a B.C. courtroom Tuesday that naturopaths are ‘not bound by science.’
Naturopath Jason Klop was in B.C. Supreme Court petitioning for a judge to order the College of Naturopathic Physicians to end its investigations into his business and lift his ban on manufacturing, advertising and selling pills and enemas made from human feces.
In explaining the ban, the college has said Klop may be engaged in conduct unbecoming of a naturopathic physician, but lawyer Jason Gratl argued that’s difficult to prove in a field with somewhat nebulous boundaries and relatively few restrictions.
“What does it take for a naturopath to do something unbecoming in a field that is so broad and open to interpretation?” he asked the court, arguing only substantial harm to patients would meet the bar.
Gratl suggested the college needs better defined standards to show that using fecal microbiota transplants (FMT) to treat autism could harm patients.
“In certain respects, naturopaths may rely on science, but they are not bound by science,” Gratl said.
He explained that naturopathic practices can instead be based on anecdotes or historical knowledge, and later pointed out that the field includes homeopathy, “which some say involves magical thinking [and is] certainly non-scientific at its core.”
Treatment not approved for autism in Canada
As CBC first reported in January 2020, Klop has been charging parents about $15,000 US for autistic children as young as two years old to have FMT, mainly at a clinic in the Mexican oceanside city of Rosarito.
FMT treatments involve taking bacteria and other microbes from the poop of a healthy person and transferring them to a patient either anally or orally, with the goal of restoring a normal environment inside the gut.
Right now, FMT is only approved in Canada and the U.S. for treatment of recurrent C. difficile infection that hasn’t responded to other therapies, but research is underway into a wide range of other possible applications.
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The hearing of Klop’s petitions to the court is scheduled to continue on Wednesday.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Journalist
Bethany Lindsay is a journalist for CBC News in Vancouver with a focus on the courts, health, science and social justice issues. Questions or news tips? Get in touch at bethany.lindsay@cbc.ca or on Twitter through @bethanylindsay.
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How does gut bacteria affect autism?
It reveals that mice develop autismlike behaviors when they are colonized by microbes from the feces of people with autism. The result doesn’t prove that gut bacteria can cause autism. But it suggests that, at least in mice, the makeup of the gut can contribute to some hallmark features of the disorder.
Gut bacteria may contribute to autism symptoms, mouse study finds
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Hindawi
Review Article | Open Access
Volume 2023 | Article ID 5993628 | https://doi.org/10.1155/2023/5993628
Efficacy of Faecal Microbiota Transplantation for the Treatment of Autism in Children: Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials
Danrong Zhu,1,2,3Xinyu Jin,1Piao Guo,1Yue Sun,2Li Zhou,3Yan Qing,4Weisong Shen,1and Guozhong Ji
2
Academic Editor: Touqeer Ahmed
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5. Conclusions
Our meta-analysis of RCTs suggests that patients with ASD can benefit from FMT, especially children with ASD who have gastrointestinal symptoms. However, there are still a small number of relevant studies, and further multicenter RCTs are needed to thoroughly assess the long-term efficacy and safety of FMT in children with ASD.
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How does gut bacteria affect autism?
It reveals that mice develop autismlike behaviors when they are colonized by microbes from the feces of people with autism. The result doesn’t prove that gut bacteria can cause autism. But it suggests that, at least in mice, the makeup of the gut can contribute to some hallmark features of the disorder.
Gut bacteria may contribute to autism symptoms, mouse study finds
..
weehingthong 