Open AccessMolecular Analysis of Clostridium difficile Strains Isolated from 18 Cases of Recurrent Clostridium difficile -Associated Diarrhea
Author(s) -
Yajarayma Tang-Feldman,
Susan Mayo,
Joseph Silva,
Stuart Cohen
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of clinical microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.349
H-Index - 255
eISSN - 1070-633X
pISSN - 0095-1137
DOI - 10.1128/jcm.41.7.3413-3414.2003
Subject(s) - discontinuation , clostridium difficile , diarrhea , clostridiaceae , microbiology and biotechnology , clostridium , epidemiology , medicine , biology , antibiotics , bacteria , genetics , toxin
Recurrence of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD) occurs in 15 to 20% of patients after discontinuation of treatment. Arbitrarily primed PCR was used to investigate the epidemiology of recurrent CDAD in 18 patients. Reinfection with a new strain occurred in 6 of 18 patients (33.3%), while 12 patients relapsed with the original strain shortly after discontinuation of treatment. These data suggest that reinfection with exogenous C. difficile is a common problem and that not all recurrences are due to relapse.