Which statement about C. difficile spores is true?

• A. They are resistant to antibiotics.
• B. They are susceptible to antibiotics.
• C. They are easily killed by standard disinfectants.
• D. They are the same as viruses.

Answer: (A)

Spore form of C. difficile is a dormant, highly resistant state. Antibiotics typically target actively growing bacteria, not these dormant spores, so the spores survive antibiotic treatment. This is why C. difficile infections can relapse or persist even after what seems like successful antibiotic therapy—the vegetative cells are eliminated, but spores remain and can germinate later.

That’s why the statement about spores being resistant to antibiotics is true. They are not easily killed by standard disinfectants either; spores require sporicidal agents and sometimes mechanical cleaning to be inactivated. They are not the same as viruses; spores are a bacterial survival form, with different properties and resistance patterns compared to viruses.