Prevalence and pathogenicity of Clostridium difficile in hospitalized patients. A French multicenter study.

Background: Although Clostridium difficile is the main agent responsible for nosocomial diarrhea in adults, its prevalence in stool cultures sent to hospital microbiology laboratories is not clearly established.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of C difficile in inpatient stools sent to hospital microbiology laboratories and to assess the relationship between serotypes and toxigenicity of the strains isolated and the clinical data.

Methods: From January 18, 1993, to July 31, 1993, the presence of C difficile was systematically investigated in a case-control study on 3921 stool samples sent for stool culture to 11 French hospital microbiology laboratories.