title: Molecular analysis of relapses or reinfections of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea.
abstract: Recurrence is a major complication of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea and occurs in 15 to 20% of patients after discontinuation of therapy. Strains from 53 patients with Clostridium difficile recurrences were fingerprinted by PCR ribotyping. Reinfection with a different strain occurred in 15 out of 53 patients (28,3%), while 38 patients relapsed. These data suggest the need to perform molecular typing for implementation of infection control procedures and for a more appropriate therapeutic strategy.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica-Microbiologia-Virologia, Università degli Studi, Milano, Italy. francesca.sisto@unimi.it
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sisto
authors.forename: Maria Maddalena
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Scaltrito
authors.forename: Miriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zago
authors.forename: Arianna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bonomi
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Coccè
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Frugoni
mesh_terms: D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting / Q000379:methods; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology*; D004761:Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D019105:Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique / Q000379:methods; D012008:Recurrence