title: Community-acquired Clostridium difficile infection.
abstract: Clostridium difficile-associated disease (CDAD) is primarily a nosocomial condition. Community-acquired disease has been reported but the incidence is felt to be low and the rate of disease resulting in hospitalization is reported as negligible. We recently experienced a 6-month outbreak of CDAD (January to June 1995): 139 patients were involved and four deaths were attributable to pseudomembranous colitis. Early in the outbreak period we were aware that many new admissions presented with C. difficile cytotoxin B positive diarrhoea: in some cases this was the sole reason for hospitalization. This observation forms the basis of this report.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine for the Elderly, St. James's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kyne
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Merry
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: O'Connell
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Keane
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: O'Neill
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016360:Clostridioides difficile; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004761:Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D007494:Ireland; D008875:Middle Aged