Isolation of Clostridium difficile from hospitalized patients without antibiotic-associated diarrhea or colitis.
Stool samples from 100 hospitalized patients and 21 healthy adults, obtained between March and June 1980, were cultured on a special selective medium containing cefoxitin and cycloserine to detect Clostridium difficile. This organism was isolated from 13 of the hospitalized patients and from 1 healthy subject. None of the patients with positive cultures had received antimicrobial therapy in the 3 preceding months. The observed rate of C. difficile isolation from adults not suffering from antibiotic-associated diarrhea or colitis is higher than previously reported. C. difficile culture is not recommended as a substitute for toxin assay in the evaluation of patients with intestinal disorders after antimicrobial chemotherapy.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000009:adverse effects; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003013:Clostridium / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D003092:Colitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007297:Inpatients; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents