AJTMH Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 79(2), 2008, pp. 164-165
Copyright © 2008 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Zumbado-Salas, R.
Right arrow Articles by Chaves-Olarte, E.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Zumbado-Salas, R.
Right arrow Articles by Chaves-Olarte, E.
Related Collections
Right arrow Diarrheal diseases

SHORT REPORT


Clostridium difficile in Adult Patients with Nosocomial Diarrhea in a Costa Rican Hospital

Roberto Zumbado-Salas, María del Mar Gamboa-Coronado, Evelyn Rodríguez-Cavallini, AND Esteban Chaves-Olarte*
Laboratorio de Investigación en Bacteriología Anaerobia, Centro de Investigación en Enfermedades Tropicales, Facultad de Microbiología, San José, Costa Rica

 

ABSTRACT

Stool samples from 104 adult patients with nosocomial antibiotic–associated diarrhea were analyzed for Clostridium difficile by cultivation, toxin A inmunoenzymatic detection, and toxin B cytotoxic detection. The isolates were additionally screened for the toxin genes by polymerase chain reaction. C. difficile was isolated from 26 samples, and the toxins were directly detected in another 5 samples. Toxin A and B genes were detected in all toxigenic bacterial isolates. The detection rate of 30% indicates that C. difficile is a major etiologic agent of nosocomial diarrhea in Costa Rica.

Received December 28, 2007. Accepted for publication May 14, 2008.

Acknowledgments: The authors thank Dr. Nury Mora for helping to obtain samples, Pablo Vargas, Yorleny Alvarado, and Alexander Ramírez for technical assistance, and Dr Caterina Guzmán-Verri for collaboration with PCR techniques. The performed experiments complied with the current laws of Costa Rica.

Financial support: This research was supported by the Vicerrectoría de Investigación, Universidad de Costa Rica.

* Address correspondence to Esteban Chaves-Olarte, Laboratorio de Investigación en Bacteriología Anaerobia, Centro de Investigación en Enfermedades Tropicales, Facultad de Microbiología, Universidad de Costa Rica 2060, San José, Costa Rica. E-mail: echaves{at}cariari.ucr.ac.cr

Authors’ address: Roberto Zumbado-Salas, María del Mar Gamboa-Coronado, Evelyn Rodríguez-Cavallini, and Esteban Chaves-Olarte, Laboratorio de Investigación en Bacteriología Anaerobia, Centro de Investigación en Enfermedades Tropicales, Facultad de Microbiología, Universidad de Costa Rica 2060, San José, Costa Rica, Tel: 506-207-4363, Fax: 506-225-2374.






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2008 by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.