title: Prolonged carriage of Clostridium difficile in Hirschsprung's disease.
abstract: The role of Clostridium difficile in the aetiology of diarrhoea in children with Hirschsprung's disease was investigated in a prospective longitudinal study. In 64 children with Hirschsprung's disease no significant difference was found in the isolation rate of C difficile in patients with diarrhoea (32%) and without diarrhoea (26%). Comparable isolation rates were found in 47 control children with and without diarrhoea (27% and 16% respectively). The number of strains producing toxin B was similar in the four groups of children. In contrast to the disappearance of C difficile by 12 months of age in the control groups of children, C difficile could be repeatedly isolated from a proportion of children with Hirschsprung's disease over 12 months of age. These findings help to reconcile the existing contradictory reports on the incidence of C difficile in Hirschsprung's disease associated enterocolitis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatric Surgery, Institute of Child Health, London.
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Hardy
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bayston
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Spitz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D004761:Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / Q000150:complications*; D006627:Hirschsprung Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011446:Prospective Studies