Frequency of Clostridium difficile among patients with gastrointestinal complaints

AIM: In this study, the prevalence of C. difficile, from patients with gastrointestinal complaints and its association with other enteropathogen microbes were investigated. BACKGROUND: Clostridium difficile is an important pathogen associated with outbreaks of pseudomembranous colitis and other intestinal disorders, such as diarrhea. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Enterotoxin and cytotoxin (toxin A and toxin B) of C. difficile on the patient's stool samples were detected by a double sandwich enzyme-linked Immunosorbant assay technique using a commercial kit (Premier toxins A & B; Generic Assays, Inc., Germany). The microbial isolation and examination was done, according to the standard identification methods. RESULTS: Out of 356 individuals (57.6% male and 42.4% female) the results of C. difficile were positive for 19 patients (5.3%) and negative for 337 patients (94.6%) according to the results of C. difficile antigen kit. There was no association between the existence of C. difficile toxin and microbial population or antibiotic usage. CONCLUSION: This prevalence study clearly supports the hypothesis of a probable role of C.difficile in developing gastrointestinal complaints in patients with diarrhea. More studies are needed to evaluate the role of C. difficile in these diseases.