US approves fecal transplant pill that will obviate need for stool banks

Regulators clear capsules for adults who face risks from C diff, bacteria that can cause nausea, cramps and diarrhea

US health officials have approved the first pill made from healthy bacteria found in human waste to fight dangerous gut infections - an easier way of performing so-called fecal transplants.

The treatment from Seres Therapeutics provides a simpler, rigorously tested version of stool-based procedures that some specialists have used for more than a decade.