Clostridium difficile presence in Spanish and Belgian hospitals.
Clostridium difficile is recognised worldwide as the main cause of infectious bacterial antibiotic-associated diarrhoea in hospitals and other healthcare settings. The aim of this study was to first survey C. difficile prevalence during the summer of 2014 at the Central University Hospital of Asturias (Spain). By typing the isolates obtained, it was then possible to compare the ribotype distribution at the Spanish hospital with results from the St Luc University Hospital in Belgium over the same period. The prevalence of positive cases reported in Spain and Belgium was 12.3% and 9.3% respectively. The main PCR-ribotypes previously described in Europe were found in both hospitals, including 078, 014, 012, 020 and 002. In the Spanish hospital, most of the C. difficile-positive samples were referred from oncology, acute care and general medicine services. In the Belgian hospital the majority of positive samples were referred from the paediatric service. However, a high percentage of isolates from this service were non-toxigenic. This study finds that the presence and detection of C. difficile in paediatric and oncology services requires further investigation.
Food Science Department, FARAH, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium. Electronic address: c.rodriguez@ulg.ac.be.
C
C
Rodriguez
Service of Microbiology, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias, Oviedo, Spain.
J
J
Fernandez
Microbiology Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Catholic University of Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.
J
J
Van Broeck
Food Science Department, FARAH, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
B
B
Taminiau
Microbiology Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Catholic University of Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.
V
V
Avesani
Service of Microbiology, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias, Oviedo, Spain.
J A
JA
Boga
Service of Microbiology, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias, Oviedo, Spain.
F
F
Vazquez
Microbiology Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Catholic University of Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.
M
M
Delmée
Food Science Department, FARAH, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium.
G
G
Daube
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001530:Belgium / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003015:Clostridium Infections / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D021521:Ribotyping; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
C. difficile; Epidemiology; Hospitals