Abstract
Stool samples from 104 adult patients with nosocomial antibiotic-associated diarrhea were analyzed for Clostridium difficile by cultivation, toxin A inmunoenzymatic detection, and toxin B cytotoxic detection. The isolates were additionally screened for the toxin genes by polymerase chain reaction. C. difficile was isolated from 26 samples, and the toxins were directly detected in another 5 samples. Toxin A and B genes were detected in all toxigenic bacterial isolates. The detection rate of 30% indicates that C. difficile is a major etiologic agent of nosocomial diarrhea in Costa Rica.
Publication types
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
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Adult
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Bacterial Proteins / analysis
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Bacterial Proteins / genetics
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Bacterial Toxins / analysis
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Bacterial Toxins / genetics
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Clostridioides difficile / genetics
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Clostridioides difficile / isolation & purification*
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Costa Rica / epidemiology
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Cross Infection / epidemiology
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Cross Infection / microbiology*
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Diarrhea / etiology
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Diarrhea / microbiology*
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Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / diagnosis
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Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / epidemiology
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Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / microbiology*
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Enterotoxins / analysis
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Enterotoxins / genetics
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Feces / microbiology
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Humans
Substances
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Bacterial Proteins
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Bacterial Toxins
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Enterotoxins
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tcdA protein, Clostridium difficile
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toxB protein, Clostridium difficile