title: Investigation of Clostridium difficile diarrhoea in a district general hospital: room for improvement?
abstract: A retrospective survey of case-notes was carried out on all patients investigated for possible Clostridium difficile diarrhoea during a 1-month period at a district general hospital. Seven of 29 patients probably had the disease, but no case of pseudomembranous colitis was documented. Delay in reporting and discrepancies between culture and cytotoxin results contributed in several cases to mismanagement. In 14 of 16 cases negative by culture and cytotoxin, a plausible non-microbiological case for diarrhoea was found, including aperients in six.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003013:Clostridium / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003015:Clostridium Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D004739:England; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D006769:Hospitals, General; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007841:Latex Fixation Tests; D008499:Medical Records; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents