When you use the term "colon infection," you can actually be referring to several different types of colon problems or conditions.

When used by doctors, however, it usually refers to a disorder caused by the Clostridium difficile bacteria - more commonly known as C. difficile or simply C diff.

Older adults who are living in a long term care facility or staying in a hospital are among those most likely to get a C. diff colon infection. Those who are taking antibiotics to cure some other illness are among those most likely to get a colon infection from C. diff.

Antibiotics - besides killing bacteria that make us sick - often also kill helpful bacteria that live in our digestive tract and help us digest our food. If you don't have enough of this helpful bacteria in your digestive system, it allows C. difficile to grow in large numbers. C. diff causes an infection by excreting a toxic substance that causes inflammation in the lining of the intestines and colon.

If you only have a mild colon infection caused by Clostridium difficile, the inflammation will go away when you stop taking antibiotics. But if you have a more severe infection, you may have to get a prescription for an entirely different type of antibiotic that will counteract C. diff.

Colon infections are more likely to occur when you're taking one of several kinds of antiobiotics. These are fluoroquinolones, cephalosporins, clindamycin and penicillin.

C difficile bacteria is common in nature. It can be found in abundance in dirt and water, and also on plants. It is especially plentiful in human and animal feces, and since it can float easily on air, it spreads quickly where sanitation is poor.

Avoiding C. diff bacteria can be done the same way you protect yourself from germs of all kinds: keep surfaces at home clean and wash your hands a lot. This is because C diff bacteria produce spores that can spread throughout a room and live for weeks or even months. If C. diff germs get on your hands and then into your mouth, they can follow your digestive tract into your intestines. The result could be a colon infection.

The fact that you have C. diff germs in your digestive tract doesn't always mean your going to get sick. But people who have been infected with Clostridium difficile can give the germs to others.

In the course of the last few years, many more cases of colon infections caused by C. diff have been reported than in previous years. There are reports that a new, more aggressive strain of C. diff has developed and is spreading. This strain resists previous medications, and there have been several serious outbreaks as a result in the last decade.

It may take months for a colon infection to develop and symptoms to appear after C. difficile germs invade your digestive tract. Once symptoms begin to present themselves, you can expect one or more of the following.

Mild pain in the abdomen and possibly cramping.

• Bathroom visits that may reach 15 times a day, with very watery diarrhea. This may continue for several days.

• A type of severe colon inflammation known as colitis.

• It's possible that you'll see pieces or raw tissue in stools, along with blood and pus..

• Nausea and fever

• Decreased appetite and sudden weight loss.

• Signs and symptoms of dehydration.

It's time to call a doctor if you have these symptoms for 2-3 days or more.

Once a diagnosis of a C. difficile infection in the colon has been made, your doctor will usually take you off the antibiotic that led to the infection. This will almost certainly reduce the intensity of your colon infection symptoms, but further treatment treatment may be needed nonetheless.

Ironically, you may still be able to take certain other antibiotics. Several are available that will stop C. diff while allowing healthy bacteria to grow. The most frequently antibiotics for a colon infection are metronidazole and vancomycin. Both these medications may have side effects like nausea, and they sometimes leave a bitter taste in your mouth. It's especially important not to drink alcoholic beverages when taking metronidazole.

There are a number of probiotics which be beneficial in restoring your intestinal tract There's a type of yeast - Saccharomyces boulardii - which can also be effective when combined with certain other medications.

Surgery isn't usually performed, but is sometimes done in especially severe cases.

Not all colon infection treatments mentioned above will work every time. Colon infections sometimes return because the C. difficile germs were not all killed in the first round of treatment, or because the patient has been infected by a different strain.