RESUMO
Clostridium difficile, the most commonly recognized diarrheagenic pathogen among hospitalized persons, can cause outpatient diarrhea. Of 1,091 outpatients with diarrhea, we found 43 (3.9%) who were positive for C. difficile toxin. Only 7 had no recognized risk factors, and 3 had neither risk factors nor co-infection with another enteric pathogen.
Assuntos
Clostridioides difficile/isolamento & purificação , Infecções por Clostridium/epidemiologia , Enterocolite Pseudomembranosa/epidemiologia , Adolescente , Adulto , Assistência Ambulatorial , Toxinas Bacterianas , Técnicas de Tipagem Bacteriana , Criança , Pré-Escolar , Clostridioides difficile/classificação , Infecções por Clostridium/diagnóstico , Connecticut/epidemiologia , Enterocolite Pseudomembranosa/diagnóstico , Feminino , Humanos , Lactente , Masculino , Maryland/epidemiologia , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Estudos Retrospectivos , Fatores de Risco , Adulto JovemRESUMO
In recent years, Clostridium spp. have rapidly reemerged as human and animal pathogens. The detection and identification of pathogenic Clostridium spp. is therefore critical for clinical diagnosis and antimicrobial therapy. Traditional diagnostic techniques for clostridia are laborious, are time consuming, and may adversely affect the therapeutic outcome. In this study, we developed an oligonucleotide diagnostic microarray for pathogenic Clostridium spp. The microarray specificity was tested against 65 Clostridium isolates. The applicability of this microarray in a clinical setting was assessed with the use of mock stool samples. The microarray was successful in discriminating at least 4 species with the limit of detection as low as 10(4) CFU/mL. In addition, the pattern of virulence and antibiotic resistance genes of tested strains were determined through the microarrays. This approach demonstrates the high-throughput detection and identification of Clostridium spp. and provides advantages over traditional methods. Microarray-based techniques are promising applications for clinical diagnosis and epidemiologic investigations.