title: Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea in a VA medical center: clustering of cases, association with antibiotic usage, and impact on HIV-infected patients.
abstract: A case-control study of patients with stools assayed for Clostridium difficile toxin over a 24-month period at a Veterans Affairs hospital found that the majority of cases (70.6%) occurred in temporal clusters. Clustering was particularly evident on a designated human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) unit. Thirty-four (75.5%) of 45 HIV-infected patients with C difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD) died during their hospitalization. Third-generation cephalosporins were the antibiotics most strongly associated with CDAD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Veterans Affairs New Jersey Health Care System, East Orange, USA.
authors.forename: L R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Mody
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Dever
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002511:Cephalosporins / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D004761:Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications*; D006787:Hospitals, Veterans; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D002511:Cephalosporins