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Heterogeneity of Clostridium-difficile Isolates From Infants

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Collignon, Alexandre [UCL] Delmée, Michel [UCL] Ticchi, L. Depitre, C. Gaudelus, J. Corthier, G.

In order to improve our understanding of the role of Clostridium difficile in infants we characterised the strains isolated from this population. The production of toxin A and toxin B was studied. The toxin A, playing a major role in the disease, was searched for in faecal samples. The serogroup of the isolates was determined because some serogroups have been shown to be more pathogenic than others. Over a 9-month period, 102 faecal samples from 102 hospitalised infants (0-12 months) were analysed and 26% of the children were colonised with C. difficile. Fifteen isolates secreted neither toxin A nor B (62.5%). Nine isolates were toxigenic and secreted both toxins (37.5%). Of the eight toxigenic strains tested, six were from serogroup H and two serogroup K. Of the 13 nontoxigenic strains tested, 8 belonged to serogroup D, 2 to serogroup X, and 1 each to serogroup A, serogroup B and serogroup C. Three infants out of 102 studied had toxin A in their faeces. In summary, the infants can be colonised by (1) nontoxigenic strains, most of them from nonpathogenic serogroup D, without toxin A in the faeces; (2) toxigenic strains of virulent serogroups H and K, with or without toxin A in the faeces. Although some infants had diarrhoea, none needed a specific treatment for C. difficile. No specific C. difficile pathology could be retained and different mechanisms are advanced to explain this absence of pathogenicity.

Document type Article de périodique (Journal article) – Article de recherche
Access type Accès restreint
Publication date 1993
Language Anglais
Journal information "European Journal of Pediatrics" - Vol. 152, no. 4, p. 319-322 (1993)
Peer reviewed yes
Publisher Springer Verlag (New York)
issn 0340-6199
e-issn 1432-1076
Publication status Publié
Affiliations UCL - Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc
UCL - AGRO/BAPA - Département de biologie appliquée et des productions agricoles
UCL - MD/MIGE - Département de microbiologie, d'immunologie et de génétique
Keywords CLOSTRIDIUM-DIFFICILE ; TOXIN-A AND TOXIN-B ; SEROGROUPS
Links
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Bibliographic reference Collignon, Alexandre ; Delmée, Michel ; Ticchi, L. ; Depitre, C. ; Gaudelus, J. ; et. al. Heterogeneity of Clostridium-difficile Isolates From Infants. In: European Journal of Pediatrics, Vol. 152, no. 4, p. 319-322 (1993)
Permanent URL http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/49811