Clostridium difficile infections, which could be fatal in some cases, have been treated by using a dose of more C. difficile. This 'fight-fire-with-fire' approach substituted aggressive versions of the bug with their friendlier cousins. The approach has been used by US doctors.

The doctors conducted trials on 173 people in which it was found that the odds of repeat infection were reduced considerably. The details regarding trials have been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

According to experts, it was an encouraging start and an interesting idea at the same time. C. difficile infections lead to diarrhea and fever and have been reported in hospitals around the world, leading to approximately 29,000 deaths each year in the US alone.

These bacteria invade the gut, when a course of antibiotics kills the bugs usually living there. The treatment involves more antibiotics; however the treatment proves to be a vicious cycle for some people as drug makes the gut weak again. Toxins released by C. difficile bacteria lead to the symptoms.

The team at Loyola University Health System in Illinois thought of giving patients spores of non-toxin-producing C. difficile. As a result of this, these bacteria should take up the spaces in the gut, which the toxic C. difficile normally inhabits. And it prevents it from coming back.

According to Dr. Dale Gerding, one of the researchers at Loyola University Health System, C. difficile infections are the most common hospital-acquired infection that we have, it is a big problem."What we're doing is establishing competition with the original, toxic strain. I'm excited about this and looking forward to a phase-three [larger] trial".

Gerding added that the phase-three trial will prove to be helpful in reducing C. diff recurrence.