Explanation
•Long-term antibiotic therapy places the patient at risk for C. difficile colitis. C. difficile is an opportunistic bacteria that takes over the intestinal tract after the gut's normal flora has been destroyed by antibiotics.
•C. difficile colitis causes significant diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever, and a distinctive foul stool odor. It is treated with I.V. Flagyl, oral vancomycin, or fidaxomicin (Dificid).