[An outbreak of diarrheal disease caused by enterotoxigenic Clostridium perfringens following exposure to a contaminated environment in a nursing home].
We herein report an outbreak of non-food-borne diarrhea which occurred in a nursing home due to enterotoxigenic Clostridium perfringens. The regional public health center in Gifu, Japan, recognized 7 patients with diarrhea in a nursing home, suspecting a food-borne illness. Bacteriological and epidemiological studies indicated that enterotoxigenic C. perfringens was the causative agent. However, suspected foods, the kitchen and the cooks carried no enteropathogenic bacteria, indicating that this outbreak was a non-food-borne diarrhea. The swab specimens obtained from the residential area of the nursing home were found to have enterotoxigenic C. perfringens. Isolates from the stool specimens of patients and environment were all serotype TW47, showing susceptibilities to ampicillin, levofloxacin, and clindamycin very similar to each other, and had banding patterns identical to each other by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. These results strongly supported the existence of monoclonal spread of an enterotoxigenic C. perfringens among the environment of the nursing home and the residents. During 3 weeks 14 residents were involved in this outbreak. The extensive effort of keeping the residential area clean led to a prompt cease of this outbreak.
Fukao
Toshio
T
Gifu Municipal Institute of Public Health.
Sato
Megumi
M
Tanaka
Yasunori
Y
Monma
Chie
C
Kato
Naoki
N
D000368:Aged; D003015:Clostridium Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission*; D003016:Clostridium perfringens / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D006707:Homes for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D009735:Nursing Homes
D004768:Enterotoxins; C035598:enterotoxin, Clostridium