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Microbiology of the Lower Digestive Tract

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Anorectal and Colonic Diseases

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Abstract

A great variety of microorganisms is potentially involved in infections of the anorectum and colon. For practical purposes, these microorganisms will be grouped into five main categories according to the type of infection they can cause, the anatomic localization of the infection, and according to some of the host characteristics. We will review the microorganisms involved in these five categories: (1) abscesses and fistulae, (2) perianal disease, (3) proctitis, (4) proctocolitis, and (5) infections in the immunocompromised host. Only selected pathogenic species of parasites will be reviewed; this selection is based on high prevalence data, the likelihood of occasionally encountering the pathogen in industrialized countries, and their propensity for infecting the terminal part of the intestine. Table 11.1 summarizes the relevant information regarding the practical aspects of diagnosing of these organisms.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de Microbiologie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Bugnon 48, 1010, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Guy Prod’hom & Jacques Bille

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  1. Guy Prod’hom
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  2. Jacques Bille
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Service de Chirurgie Viscérale, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, 1011, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Jean-Claude R. Givel

  2. Department of Colorectal Surgery, The John Radcliffe Hospital, OX3 9DU, Headington, Oxford, UK

    Neil Mortensen

  3. Responsable de l’Unité de Proctologie, Hôpital Cantonal Universitaire de Genève, Rue Gabrielle Perret-Gentil 4, 1211, Genève 14, Switzerland

    Bruno Roche

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Prod’hom, G., Bille, J. (2010). Microbiology of the Lower Digestive Tract. In: Givel, JC., Mortensen, N., Roche, B. (eds) Anorectal and Colonic Diseases. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-69419-9_11

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