ABSTRACT
Clostridium difficile is the agent of many cases of antibiotic associated diarrhea. The prevalence of the toxigenic Clostridium difficile strains was assessed by real-time PCR between May 2014- January 2015, at the Emergency University Hospital, Bucharest, Romania. The incidence of the Clostridium difficile infection was 0.47%. Among the 1119 stool specimens tested, 165 (13.8%) were positive for C. difficile toxins A and B by immunochromatography test. All 165 positive samples were investigated by real time PCR and 134 (81%) samples were positive for toxin B and for the binary toxin, while the rest were positive for toxin B. A high number of samples positive for binary toxin was recorded in the General surgery department (29.85%), Neurology (13.43%), and Internal medicine (12.68%). Many of the infected patients presented as underlying pathology, cancer, diabetes mellitus and stroke. A rapid decision concerning the antibiotic therapy was made, to decrease the risk of nosocomial spread.
Subject(s)
ADP Ribose Transferases/genetics , Bacterial Proteins/genetics , Bacterial Toxins/genetics , Clostridioides difficile/isolation & purification , Clostridium Infections/epidemiology , Enterotoxins/genetics , Genes, Bacterial , Population Surveillance , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Chromatography, Affinity , Clostridioides difficile/classification , Clostridioides difficile/genetics , Clostridium Infections/diagnosis , Clostridium Infections/microbiology , Clostridium Infections/prevention & control , Cross Infection/epidemiology , Cross Infection/microbiology , Cross Infection/prevention & control , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Hospital Departments , Hospital Mortality , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Romania/epidemiology , Sensitivity and SpecificityABSTRACT
A few months into the 2009 influenza pandemic, nine European countries implemented case-based surveillance of hospitalised severe influenza infections. In the present study, we assess the association between patient characteristics, in particular underlying conditions, and the severity level of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 infection during the 2010-2011 season. Patient age, the presence of underlying conditions, pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and the need for ventilation were significantly associated with the severity of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 infection. Despite limitations essentially because of the heterogeneity of the data reported, this study provides insight into severe influenza cases.