Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhoea.
At our hospital, the number of cases of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhoea increased from 29 in 1993 to 210 in 1995. The case notes of 110 patients with C difficile-associated diarrhoea during the first 6 months of 1995 were analysed retrospectively. The majority of the patients (106) had received antibiotics before the onset of diarrhoea; 46 had received three or more different antibiotics and 28 had received metronidazole. In 19 patients, the first stool sample after the onset of diarrhoea was negative for C difficile cytotoxin, with a mean delay of 8.2 days before a positive stool sample. We conclude that C difficile-associated diarrhoea was associated with the usage of multiple antibiotics, and that metronidazole did not protect against colonisation by C difficile. We also recommend that more than one stool sample should be tested for the C difficile cytotoxin.
Wight
N
N
Division of Gastroenterology, University Hospital, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham, UK.
Curtis
H
H
Hyde
J
J
Borriello
S P
SP
Mahida
Y R
YR
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000139:chemically induced*; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000382:microbiology; D004761:Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / Q000139:chemically induced*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents