Clostridium difficile in patients attending tuberculosis hospitals in Cape Town, South Africa, 2014–2015
African Journal of Laboratory Medicine
| Field | Value | |
| Title | Clostridium difficile in patients attending tuberculosis hospitals in Cape Town, South Africa, 2014–2015 | |
| Creator | Kullin, Brian R. Reid, Sharon Abratt, Valerie | |
| Description | Background: Diarrhoea due to Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) poses a significant burden on healthcare systems around the world. However, there are few reports on the current status of the disease in sub-Saharan Africa.Objectives: This study examined the occurrence of CDI in a South African population of tuberculosis patients, as well as the molecular epidemiology and antibiotic susceptibility profiles of C. difficile strains responsible for disease.Methods: Toxigenic C. difficile in patients with suspected CDI attending two specialist tuberculosis hospitals in the Cape Town area were detected using a PCR-based diagnostic assay (Xpert® C. difficile). C. difficile strains isolated from PCR-positive specimens were characterised by ribotyping, multilocus variable-number tandem-repeat analysis and antibiotic susceptibility testing.Results: The period prevalence of CDI was approximately 70.07 cases per 1000 patient admissions. Strains belonging to ribotype 017 (RT017) made up over 95% of the patient isolates and all of them were multi-drug resistant. Multilocus variable-number tandem-repeat analysis revealed several clusters of highly related C. difficile RT017 strains present in tuberculosis patients in several wards at each hospital.Conclusion: Tuberculosis patients represent a population that may be at an increased risk of developing CDI and, in addition, may constitute a multi-drug resistant reservoir of this bacterium. This warrants further investigation and surveillance of the disease in this patient group and other high-risk patient groups in sub-Saharan Africa. | |
| Publisher | AOSIS | |
| Date | 2018-12-06 | |
| Identifier | 10.4102/ajlm.v7i2.846 | |
| Source | African Journal of Laboratory Medicine; Vol 7, No 2 (2018); 9 pages 2225-2010 2225-2002 | |
| Language | eng | |
| Relation |
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:
https://ajlmonline.org/index.php/ajlm/article/view/846/1223
https://ajlmonline.org/index.php/ajlm/article/view/846/1222
https://ajlmonline.org/index.php/ajlm/article/view/846/1224
https://ajlmonline.org/index.php/ajlm/article/view/846/1166
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