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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 April 2015

Jason S. Biswas
Affiliation:
Centre for Clinical Infection and Diagnostics Research, King’s College, London and Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom
Amita Patel
Affiliation:
Centre for Clinical Infection and Diagnostics Research, King’s College, London and Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom
Jonathan A. Otter
Affiliation:
Centre for Clinical Infection and Diagnostics Research, King’s College, London and Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom
Esther van Kleef
Affiliation:
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom Public Health England, United Kingdom.
Simon D. Goldenberg*
Affiliation:
Centre for Clinical Infection and Diagnostics Research, King’s College, London and Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom
*
Address correspondence to Simon D. Goldenberg, MD, DipHIC, FRCPath, Centre for Clinical Infection and Diagnostics Research, King’s College, London and Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1 7EH, United Kingdom ([email protected]).

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.

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2015;36(8): 975–977

Type
Concise Communications
Copyright
© 2015 by The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. All rights reserved 

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