title: Incidence and significance of Clostridium difficile in hospitalized cancer patients.
abstract: The aim of the study was to assess the incidence and clinical significance of Clostridium difficile in patients in our cancer center. Over a period of seven consecutive months, 557 stools samples obtained from 156 hospitalized cancer patients (37 leukemic patients receiving oral antimicrobial prophylaxis and 119 patients from whom a stool sample was sent to the laboratory) were analyzed for the presence of Clostridium difficile. Clostridium difficile and/or its toxin was recovered from 13 (35%) of the 37 patients receiving oral antimicrobial prophylaxis, and from 15 (12%) of the other 119 patients (p less than 0.05). Isolation of Clostridium difficile was associated with diarrhoea in 13 (46%) of 28 patients but specific treatment was initiated only in 7 (25%) of the 28 patients in whom Clostridium difficile was isolated. The wide distribution of the serotypes identified in our patients does not suggest an epidemic situation in our hospital.
mesh_terms: D002353:Carrier State / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002849:Chromatography, Gas; D003013:Clostridium / Q000145:classification; D003015:Clostridium Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003603:Cytotoxins / Q000032:analysis; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*; D012703:Serotyping
chemical_list: D003603:Cytotoxins