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Molecular epidemiology of Clostridium difficile strains from nosocomial-acquired infections

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Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze isolates of Clostridium difficile from patients with nosocomial acquired infection in respect to their molecular type and antimicrobial susceptibility. Fifty-nine randomly selected clinical isolates were characterized. Molecular typing was performed by rep-PCR (DiversiLab). Isolates were tested by disk diffusion towards 11 different antibiotics. All isolates were susceptible to metronidazole and vancomycin. Fifty five (93 %) isolates were resistant to erythromycin and fifty six (95 %) exhibited resistance to both clindamycin and moxifloxacin. Twenty rep-PCR types were identified, but most clinical isolates formed four major rep-PCR clusters (A1 24/59, 40 %; A2 20/59, 33 %; A3 5/59, 8 %; A4 3/59, 5 %). These results show high genetic variability, which demonstrate clearly the complexity of the strains of C. difficile and also show an increasing rate of resistance to fluoroquinolones in our region emphasizing the importance of implementing surveillance programs in order to prevent further spread of resistance in C. difficile.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Surace Antonella for revising the text.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Microbiology, Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia, P. le Spedali Civili, 1, 25123, Brescia, Italy

    Silvia Corbellini, Giorgio Piccinelli, Maria Antonia De Francesco, Giuseppe Ravizzola & Carlo Bonfanti

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  1. Silvia Corbellini
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  2. Giorgio Piccinelli
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  3. Maria Antonia De Francesco
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  4. Giuseppe Ravizzola
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  5. Carlo Bonfanti
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria Antonia De Francesco.

Additional information

Silvia Corbellini and Giorgio Piccinelli contributed equally to this work.

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Corbellini, S., Piccinelli, G., De Francesco, M.A. et al. Molecular epidemiology of Clostridium difficile strains from nosocomial-acquired infections. Folia Microbiol 59, 173–179 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12223-013-0281-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12223-013-0281-3

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