Table 1.
Detection and confirmation of Clostridium difficile in 105 diarrheal stool samples by culture and PCR.a
| Number of patients | Percentage (%) | |
|---|---|---|
| Total number of patients | 105 | |
| C. difficile detection by culture | ||
| Positive | 98 | 93.3 |
| Negative | 7 | 6.7 |
| PCR analysis of pooled C. difficile colonies | ||
| Presence of tcdA/tcdB or tcdC genes | ||
| Positive | 97 | 98.9 |
| Negative | 1 | 1.1 |
| tcdA+/tcdB+ | ||
| Positive | 95 | 97.9 |
| Negative | 2 | 2.1 |
| tcdA+/tcdB+ | ||
| Positive | 92 | 96.8 |
| Negative | 3 | 3.2 |
| tcdA+/tcdB− | ||
| Positive | 2 | 2.1 |
| Negative | 95 | 97.9 |
| tcdC+ | ||
| Positive | 97 | 100 |
| Negative | 0 | 0 |
| tcdC deletion | ||
| Wild-type | 17 | 17.5 |
| Deletion | 80 | 82.5 |
a
Stools were streaked on C. difficile plates containing 250 g/ml D-cycloserine and 8 μg/ml cefoxitin and incubated anaerobically at 37° C for 48 h. To validate the culture results, PCR was performed using primers specific for C. difficile genes (tcdA, tcdB, or tcdC) on the colonies isolated from the plates.