Contamination of the Hospital Environment From Potential Clostridium difficile Excretors Without Active Infection

Jason S Biswas; Amita Patel; Jonathan A Otter; Esther van Kleef; Simon D Goldenberg

doi:10.1017/ice.2015.79

Contamination of the Hospital Environment From Potential Clostridium difficile Excretors Without Active Infection

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2015 Aug;36(8):975-7. doi: 10.1017/ice.2015.79. Epub 2015 Apr 10.

Authors

Jason S Biswas¹, Amita Patel¹, Jonathan A Otter¹, Esther van Kleef², Simon D Goldenberg¹

Affiliations

¹ 1Centre for Clinical Infection and Diagnostics Research,King's College,London and Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust,United Kingdom.
² 2London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine,United Kingdom.

PMID: 25857829
DOI: 10.1017/ice.2015.79

Abstract

Clostridium difficile was recovered from 33 (34%) of 98 rooms of patients who were excretors compared with 36 (49%) of 73 rooms of patients with active infection. Not all laboratory algorithms can distinguish between these 2 groups, yet both may be a significant source for ongoing transmission.

MeSH terms

Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Bacterial Proteins / genetics
Bacterial Toxins / genetics
Carrier State / microbiology*
Clostridioides difficile / genetics
Clostridioides difficile / isolation & purification*
Diarrhea / microbiology
Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / microbiology*
Enterotoxins / genetics
Equipment Contamination
Feces / microbiology
Female
Fomites / microbiology*
Hospitals
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Patients' Rooms
Young Adult

Substances

Bacterial Proteins
Bacterial Toxins
Enterotoxins
tcdA protein, Clostridium difficile
toxB protein, Clostridium difficile