title: Molecular characterization of toxigenic Clostridium difficile in a northern Italian hospital.
abstract: Clostridium difficile is responsible for more than 90 % of cases of antibiotic-associated diarrhea and pseudomembranous colitis. The most important virulence factors are two toxins called enterotoxin A and cytotoxin B; some C. difficile strains contain the C. difficile binary toxin (CDT). The aim of our study was to prospectively analyze C. difficile clinical isolates in a single center to determine the molecular features of collected strains. Among the 252 isolates, 217 were A + B + (86.1 %), 33 were A + B + cdt + (13.1 %) and 2 were A - B + (0.8 %). There were 15 different ribotypes with a predominance of 018.
authors.affiliation: Infectious Diseases Unit, Department of Medical Sciences, Amedeo di Savoia Hospital, University of Turin, Corso Svizzera 164, 10149, Turin, Italy, francescogiuseppe.derosa@unito.it.
authors.forename: Francesco G
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: De Rosa
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cavallerio
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Corcione
authors.forename: Caterina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Parlato
authors.forename: Lucina
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fossati
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Serra
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Di Perri
authors.forename: Rossana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cavallo
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000382:microbiology*; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D004761:Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / Q000382:microbiology*; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D021521:Ribotyping
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D004768:Enterotoxins