Low prevalence of Clostridium septicum fecal carriage in an adult population.

Clostridium septicum is an uncommon cause of severe infection. Real-time PCR against the C. septicum-specific alpha-toxin gene (csa) was used to estimate the prevalence of this microbe in human stool from 161 asymptomatic community-dwelling adults and 192 hospitalized patients with diarrhea. All samples were negative, suggesting a low prevalence.