Presence of Clostridioides difficile and multidrug-resistant healthcare-associated pathogens in stool specimens from hospitalized patients in the USA
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-2020
Publication Source
Journal of Hospital Infection
Abstract
Background: Healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) continue to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Many HCAI pathogens, including multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs), colonize the gastrointestinal tract.
Aim: To determine the frequency of MDRO carriage in patients who do and do not harbour toxigenic Clostridioides difficile in their stools.
Methods: Stool specimens received from nine US laboratories were cultured using media selective for C. difficile, Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), and carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative organisms (CROs). Specimens and isolates were also tested by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Bacterial isolates underwent susceptibility testing and genotyping.
Findings: Among 363 specimens, 175 yielded toxigenic C. difficile isolates spanning 27 PCR ribotypes. C. difficile (TCD+) stools harboured an additional 28 organisms, including six CROs (3.4%), of which two (1.1%) were carbapenemase-producing organisms (CPOs), 19 VRE (10.9%), and three meticillin-resistant S. aureus isolates (MRSA, 1.7 %). Stools that were culture negative for toxigenic C. difficile (TCD-) yielded 26 organisms, including four CROs (2.1%), 20 VRE (10.6), and two MRSA (1.1%). Excluding C. difficile, no significant differences were seen in the rates of the MDROs between TCD+ and TCD- specimens.
Conclusion: Overall, 15.4% of the TCD+ stools and 11.2% of the TCD- stools carried at least one non-C. difficile MDRO pathogen, indicating that multiple MDROs may be present in the gastrointestinal tracts of patients, including those that harbour C. difficile.
Inclusive pages
179-185
ISBN/ISSN
Online ISSN: 1532-2939; Print ISSN: 0195-6701
Publisher
Elsevier; the Healthcare Infection Society
Volume
106
Peer Reviewed
yes
Issue
1
Keywords
Colonization. Healthcare-associated infections. Multidrug resistance. Surveillance
eCommons Citation
Tickler, Isabella A.; dela Cruz, Caitlin M.; Obradovich, Anne E.; Goering, Richard V.; Dewell, Scott; Le, Victoria M.; Tenover, Fred C.; and Healthcare Associated Infections Consortium, "Presence of Clostridioides difficile and multidrug-resistant healthcare-associated pathogens in stool specimens from hospitalized patients in the USA" (2020). Biology Faculty Publications. 345.
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/bio_fac_pub/345
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