title: Laboratory-based surveillance of Clostridium difficile strains circulating in the Australian healthcare setting in 2012.
abstract: Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) has risen in prominence in Australia recently. We conducted laboratory-based surveillance of CDI to examine C. difficile circulating in Australia in October/November 2012. We collected 542 isolates from all States and Territories of Australia except the Northern Territory. The most common ribotypes (RTs) were RTs 014/020 (25.5%), 002 (10.5%), 056 (5.9%) and 070 (4.2%). The survey results were compared with results from a similar Australian survey conducted in 2010. Proportions of RTs 014/020 and 002 remained similar, while RTs 056 (5.9%), 015 (4.1%), 017 (3.3%) and 244 (2.4%) increased in prevalence. Basic clinical and demographic data were available for 338 cases. The majority were healthcare facility-associated (HCFA-CDI, 51.5%) while 17.5% were community-associated (CA-CDI). While no RTs were associated with CA-CDI, RTs 056 and 126 were recently found in Australian production animals, indicating a possible community health threat in Australia.
authors.affiliation: Microbiology and Immunology, School of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, the University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia. Electronic address: deirdre.collins@research.uwa.edu.au.
authors.forename: Deirdre A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Collins
authors.affiliation: Microbiology and Immunology, School of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, the University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: Papanin
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Putsathit
authors.affiliation: Microbiology and Immunology, School of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, the University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: Briony
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Elliott
authors.affiliation: Microbiology and Immunology, School of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, the University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia; Department of Microbiology, PathWest Laboratory Medicine (WA), Perth, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: Thomas V
authors.initials: TV
authors.lastname: Riley
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003015:Clostridium Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015876:Northern Territory; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D015995:Prevalence; D021521:Ribotyping / Q000379:methods
keywords: Australia; CDI; Clostridium difficile; molecular epidemiology; ribotyping