Feacal carriage of cytotoxigenic strains of Clostridium difficile by adult Nigerians.
The isolation rate of Clostridium difficile and the presence of its cytotoxin in stool were studied in adults with diarrhoea and healthy normal individuals over a period of one year. C. difficile was isolated from 23(56%) out of 41 patients with diarrhoea who gave history of antibiotic exposure prior to the development of the disease from 12(31.6%) of the 38 healthy controls with no history of antibiotic exposure. Of the 23(31.6%) C. difficile isolated from the patients, 16(69.6%), and only 8(66.6%) of the 12 isolates from the healthy adults, were cytotoxigenic. Only one stool specimen from a diarrhoeic patient, was positive for cytotoxin assay. The clinical significance of this finding is discussed.
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Akindutire
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D000328:Adult; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000009:adverse effects; D003013:Clostridium / Q000032:analysis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003015:Clostridium Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D003603:Cytotoxins / Q000032:analysis*; D005243:Feces / Q000032:analysis / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D009549:Nigeria
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D003603:Cytotoxins