Molecular analysis of relapse vs re-infection in HIV-positive patients suffering from recurrent Clostridium difficile associated diarrhoea.
Recurrence is a major complication of Clostridium difficile associated diarrhoea, especially in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive patients, and it is important to distinguish between relapse and re-infection in recurrent episodes. The aim of our study was to analyse C. difficile isolates obtained from HIV-positive patients with recurrent diarrhoea in order to distinguish between relapse and re-infection. This analysis was based on the study of DNA similarities among isolates obtained from different episodes within each patient. Relapses occurred in 64% of patients, 32% suffered re-infections and a combination of relapse plus re-infection was seen in 4%. DNA typing methods can be useful tools to characterize recurrent episodes of C. difficile associated disease.
Alonso
R
R
Servicio de Microbiología y Enfermedades Infecciosas, Hospital General Universitario 'Gregorio Marañón', Madrid, Spain. ralonso@microb.net
Gros
S
S
Peláez
T
T
García-de-Viedma
D
D
Rodríguez-Créixems
M
M
Bouza
E
E
D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000235:genetics*; D003015:Clostridium Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000821:virology; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D019105:Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors