Epidemic Clostridium difficile Strains Demonstrate Increased Competitive Fitness Compared to Nonepidemic Isolates

Clostridium difficile: the emerging epidemic.

Immunoblotting to demonstrate antigenic and immunogenic differences among nine standard strains of Clostridium difficile.

The epidemiology of Clostridium difficile-associated disease is being elucidated with the development of typing schemes for the organism. We recently described a new typing scheme based on the incorporation of [35S]methionine into bacterial proteins followed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and autoradiography. Nine standard strains were identified. We report here so...

Evolutionary genomics of epidemic and nonepidemic strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen of humans and is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Prolonged infection of the respiratory tract can lead to adaptation of the pathogen to the CF lung environment. To examine the general patterns of adaptation associated with chronic infection, we obtained genome sequences from a collection of P. ae...

Hypervirulent strains of Clostridium difficile.

North America has seen increasing numbers of hospitalised patients and others in nursing homes and the community, with more severe Clostridium difficile associated diarrhoea. This is also described in Northern Europe and surveillance systems are being developed or improved to monitor the situation. One strain (ribotype O27) is described in detail and, like other emerging strains, is demonstrati...

Asymptomatic carriers are a potential source for transmission of epidemic and nonepidemic Clostridium difficile strains among long-term care facility residents.

BACKGROUND Asymptomatic fecal carriage of Clostridium difficile is common in patients staying in health care facilities, but the importance of asymptomatic carriers with regard to disease transmission is unclear. METHODS We prospectively examined the prevalence of asymptomatic carriage of epidemic North American pulsed-field gel electrophoresis type 1 and nonepidemic toxigenic C. difficile st...