Clostridium difficile in Antibiotic-Associated Diarrhoea and Detection of Toxin Producing Strains in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Western Maharashtra.

ABSTRACT

Background: Rampant and injudicious use of broadspectrum antibiotic in hospitalized patients hasincreased the incidence of Clostridium difficileAssociated Diarrhea (CDAD). In recent years,Clostridium difficile Infection (CDI) has become morefrequent, severe, and difficult to treat. Aim andObjective: A prospective, study was conducted toisolate C. difficile in Antibiotic-associated Diarrhoea(AAD) and to detect toxin producing strains of C.difficile from faecal samples of patients suspected tohave CDI. Material and Methods: A total of 111hospitalized patients who developed diarrhoea after>72 hours of admission and suspected of CDI wereenrolled for investigation. The samples were subjectedto anaerobic culture and toxin assay. Results: The totalsample size of the study was 111 patients who werehaving antibiotic associated diarrhoea. Majority of thepatients were from the age group 21-30 years and 41-50 years i.e., 23 (20.7%). Males 64 (57.7%) wereaffected more as compared to females 47 (42.3%).Third generation cephalosporins were the mostcommon group of antibiotics associated with bothAAD 36 (32.4%) and CDAD 9 (42.85%) cases,followed by carbapenem fluroquinolones incombination 3 (12.5%). Culture positivity was seen in12 (10.81%) of the 111 stool samples and 39 (35.13%)were toxin producers. Conclusion: The use of severalmedications was found to be associated with anincreased risk of CDAD. The only way to reduce Cl.difficile infection is to judiciously use antibiotics,strictly adhere to antibiotic policy and to give primeimportance to strict infection control measures.