Case history
Case history
A 72-year-old white man presents with a 5-day history of abdominal pain, nausea, severe diarrhoea, fever, and malaise. He was started on amoxicillin for community-acquired pneumonia 2 weeks prior with resolution of his pulmonary symptoms. Examination reveals a fever of 38.3°C (101°F) and mild abdominal distension with minimal tenderness. Laboratory tests reveal a peripheral WBC of 12,000/mm³ and stool guaiac mildly positive for occult blood.
Other presentations
Symptoms can range from isolated mild diarrhoea to copious watery diarrhoea with severe abdominal pain and high peripheral white blood cell count (WBC). Life-threatening colitis can develop, especially in older people. A sudden rise in WBC in a patient with diarrhoea and a history of recent antibiotic use may be an indicator of impending fulminant colitis.[3]
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