PCR Ribotyping and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing of Isolates of Clostridium difficile Cultured from Toxin-Positive Diarrheal Stools of Patients Receiving Medical Care in Canadian Hospitals: The Canadian Clostridium difficile Surveillance Study (CAN-DIFF) 2013-2015

Clostridium difficile toxin-positive diarrheal stool specimens submitted to eight Canadian hospital laboratories from 2013 to 2015 were cultured. PCR-ribotyping of isolates was performed using an internationally-standardized, high-resolution capillary gel-based electrophoresis protocol and antimicrobial susceptibility testing conducted by CLSI-defined agar dilution (M11-A8, 2012). Among the 1,310 isolates of C. difficile cultured, 141 different ribotypes were identified; the most common ribotypes were 027 (24.5% of isolates), 014 (7.7%), 020 (6.6%), 106 (6.1%), and 002 (4.6%).

Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease - February 4, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: James A. Karlowsky, Heather J. Adam, Tyler Kosowan, Melanie R. Baxter, Kim A. Nichol, Nancy M. Laing, George Golding, George G. Zhanel Source Type: research