title: Clostridium difficile is no longer just a nosocomial infection or an infection of adults.
abstract: Clostridium difficile is the main cause of nosocomial gastrointestinal disorders. Historically, C. difficile has usually affected older patients, hospital inpatients, and long-term care facility residents. Recent reports suggest that the occurrence and severity of C. difficile-associated disease (CDAD) is increasing in populations previously considered to be at low risk of the infection, and increasing numbers of community-acquired cases of CDAD are being reported. Risk factors for CDAD in paediatric patients include disruption of the normal microflora of the gastrointestinal tract (antibiotic-associated and non-antibiotic-associated), age, immune status, diet, underlying conditions, concurrent infections, and cancer. CDAD in populations previously thought to be at low risk is an emerging problem.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, The Medical University of Warsaw, 5 Chalubinski Street, Warsaw, Poland. hpituch@wum.edu.pl
authors.forename: Hanna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pituch
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D004761:Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D055815:Young Adult