الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract CDAD is the most common infectious cause of nosocomial diarrhea. Many factors appear to influence the chance of acquiring C. difficile infection, and an accurate identification of risk factors could be beneficial in many ways. The pathogenicity of C. difficile is related to the production of two exotoxins toxins A and B. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Our patients were selected from inpatients that were under antibiotic therapy for more than 6 days. Stool samples from the 84 patients who developed AAD were tested for C. difficile by culture, detection of both of toxin A and B by C. difficile TOX A/B EIA and lastly for toxin genes by PCR. RESULTS: We found that the overall prevalence of AAD among cases of nosocomial AAD was 16.4%. Culture and PCR had excellent specificities; while both were not highly sensitive. There has been significant higher rate of detection of C. difficile by EIA from patients who had received combined antibiotic therapy. C. difficile toxin detection by EIA was also higher among patients who received third generation cephalosporins, clindamycin and ureidopenicillins. The duration of antibiotic administration and the duration of hospital stay were significantly higher in patients from whom C. difficile was detected. CONCLUSIONS: The duration of antibiotic administration, the duration of hospital stay, third generation cephalosporins, ureidopenicillins and clindamycin use are significant risk factors for CDAD |