Feacal carriage of cytotoxigenic strains of Clostridium difficile by adult Nigerians
Rotimi, V.O.; Akindutire, D.
East African Medical Journal 66(5): 319-323
1989
ISSN/ISBN: 0012-835X PMID: 2791928 Document Number: 343803
The isolation rate of Clostridium difficile and the presence of its cytotoxin in stool were studied in adults with diarrhoaea and healthy normal individuals over a period of one year. C. difficile was isolated from 23(56%) out of 41 patients with diarrhoea who gave history of antibiotic exposure prior to the development of the disease and from 12(31.6%) of the 38 healthy controls with no history of antibiotic exposure. Of the 23(31.6%) C. difficile isolated from the patients, 16(69.6%), and only 8(66.6%) of the 12 isolates from the healthy adults, were cytotoxigenic. Only one stool specimen from a diarrhoeic patient, was positive for cytotoxin assay. The clinical significance of this finding is discussed.