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TUESDAY, Dec. 17, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Nearly one in 10 patients admitted to a hospital with no symptoms of diarrhea may be a carrier of Clostridioides difficile<\/i>, according to a study published online Dec. 11 in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Sarah W. Baron, M.D., from the Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, New York, and colleagues tested perirectal swabs by polymerase chain reaction for C. difficile<\/i> within 24 hours of admission among adults admitted without diarrhea. The analysis included 220 patients, who were followed for six months to identify progression to symptomatic C. difficile<\/i>.<\/p>\n
The researchers found that 9.6 percent of patients were C. difficile<\/i> carriers, including 10.2 percent of the nursing facility residents and 7.7 percent of the community residents. Progression to symptomatic C. difficile<\/i> was seen in 38.1 percent of the 21 carriers but only in 2.0 percent of the noncarriers (four of 199; hazard ratio, 23.9).<\/p>\n
“Asymptomatic carriers may represent a significant reservoir for transmission of C. difficile<\/i>, and progression from asymptomatic carriage to symptomatic C. difficile<\/i> infection may account for a significant proportion of C. difficile<\/i> infection that is classified as ‘health care-facility onset,'” the authors write.<\/p>\n