title: Clostridium difficile in adult patients with nosocomial diarrhea in a Costa Rican hospital.
abstract: Stool samples from 104 adult patients with nosocomial antibiotic-associated diarrhea were analyzed for Clostridium difficile by cultivation, toxin A inmunoenzymatic detection, and toxin B cytotoxic detection. The isolates were additionally screened for the toxin genes by polymerase chain reaction. C. difficile was isolated from 26 samples, and the toxins were directly detected in another 5 samples. Toxin A and B genes were detected in all toxigenic bacterial isolates. The detection rate of 30% indicates that C. difficile is a major etiologic agent of nosocomial diarrhea in Costa Rica.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Investigación en Bacteriología Anaerobia, Centro de Investigación en Enfermedades Tropicales, Facultad de Microbiología, San José, Costa Rica.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zumbado-Salas
authors.forename: María del Mar
authors.initials: Mdel M
authors.lastname: Gamboa-Coronado
authors.forename: Evelyn
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Cavallini
authors.forename: Esteban
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Chaves-Olarte
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003364:Costa Rica / Q000453:epidemiology; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D004761:Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D004768:Enterotoxins; C041348:tcdA protein, Clostridium difficile; C031815:toxB protein, Clostridium difficile