title: Rapid spread of Clostridium difficile NAP1/027/ST1 in Chile confirms the emergence of the epidemic strain in Latin America.
abstract: Clostridium difficile infection has gained importance in recent years as a result of the rapid spread of epidemic strains, including hypervirulent strains. This study reports the molecular epidemiology of C. difficile obtained from hospitalized patients in Chile. Seven hundred and nineteen isolates of toxigenic C. difficile from 45 hospitals across the country were characterized through toxin profile, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), and sequencing of the tcdC gene. In addition, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) ribotyping and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) were performed on a subset of selected strains. PFGE typing of 719 isolates of C. difficile produced 60 PFGE patterns (subtypes). Subtype 1 was predominant (79% of isolates) and related to the hypervirulent strain (NAP1). Subtype 1 showed 73% relatedness with nine other subtypes, which had a similar tcdC deletion. Subtype 1 corresponded to ribotype 027 and ST1. This report shows the wide dissemination of the hypervirulent strain NAP1/027/ST1 in Chile.
authors: Subdepartment of Molecular Genetics,Public Health Institute of Chile,Santiago,Chile.
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Aguayo
authors: National Bacteriology Laboratories,Public Health Institute of Chile,Santiago,Chile.
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Flores
authors: Laboratoire de santé publique du Québec,Institut national de santé publique du Québec,Québec,Canada.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Lévesque
authors: National Bacteriology Laboratories,Public Health Institute of Chile,Santiago,Chile.
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Araya
authors: Subdepartment of Molecular Genetics,Public Health Institute of Chile,Santiago,Chile.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Ulloa
authors: Subdepartment of Molecular Genetics,Public Health Institute of Chile,Santiago,Chile.
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Lagos
authors: National Bacteriology Laboratories,Public Health Institute of Chile,Santiago,Chile.
authors: J C
authors: JC
authors: Hormazabal
authors: Subdepartment of Molecular Genetics,Public Health Institute of Chile,Santiago,Chile.
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Tognarelli
authors: National Bacteriology Laboratories,Public Health Institute of Chile,Santiago,Chile.
authors: D
authors: D
authors: Ibáñez
authors: National Bacteriology Laboratories,Public Health Institute of Chile,Santiago,Chile.
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Pidal
authors: National Bacteriology Laboratories,Public Health Institute of Chile,Santiago,Chile.
authors: O
authors: O
authors: Duery
authors: Subdepartment of Molecular Genetics,Public Health Institute of Chile,Santiago,Chile.
authors: B
authors: B
authors: Olivares
authors: Subdepartment of Molecular Genetics,Public Health Institute of Chile,Santiago,Chile.
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Fernández
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000235:genetics; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002677:Chile / Q000453:epidemiology; D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003015:Clostridium Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D058872:Epidemics; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing; D021521:Ribotyping; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D001427:Bacterial Toxins
keywords: Clostridium difficile; MLST; PFGE; ribotype