A young woman being treated for serious burns develops severe diarrhea accompanied by intense abdominal pain. She passes several watery, foul-smelling, bloody stools a day. A colonoscopy reveals patches of yellowish lesions in the large intestine. The probable causative agent is

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The symptoms of severe diarrhea, abdominal pain, foul-smelling, bloody stools, and yellowish lesions in the large intestine are indicative of a Clostridium difficile infection. This bacterium is known to cause diarrhea and inflammation of the colon, especially after treatment with antibiotics. Giardia intestinalis usually causes chronic diarrhea but does not typically cause bloody stools. Campylobacter usually causes acute diarrhea without bloody stools. Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi causes typhoid fever, which includes high fever and abdominal pain but not diarrhea with bloody stools. Vibrio cholerae causes acute watery diarrhea, but typically without bloody stools or lesions in the large intestine.

A Young Woman Being Treated for Serious Burns Develops Severe