By IDSE News Staff
Substantially reducing the use of antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin stopped an outbreak of severe diarrhea caused by Clostridium difficile in the United Kingdom (Lancet Infect Dis [Epub Jan 24, 2017]. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(16)30514-X).
Inappropriate use and widespread overprescribing of fluoroquinolone antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin allowed resistant C. difficile to thrive, because nonresistant bugs in the gut were killed off by the antibiotic, leaving