Asymptomatic Clostridium difficile colonization: epidemiology and clinical implications
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Furuya-Kanamori, Luis; Marquess, John; Yakob, Laith; Riley, Thomas V; Paterson, David L; Foster, Niki F; Huber, Charlotte A; Clements, Archie
Description
BACKGROUND The epidemiology of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) has changed over the past decades with the emergence of highly virulent strains. The role of asymptomatic C. difficile colonization as part of the clinical spectrum of CDI is complex because many risk factors are common to both disease and asymptomatic states. In this article, we review the role of asymptomatic C. difficile colonization in the progression to symptomatic CDI, describe the epidemiology of asymptomatic C....[Show more]
dc.contributor.author | Furuya-Kanamori, Luis | |
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dc.contributor.author | Marquess, John | |
dc.contributor.author | Yakob, Laith | |
dc.contributor.author | Riley, Thomas V | |
dc.contributor.author | Paterson, David L | |
dc.contributor.author | Foster, Niki F | |
dc.contributor.author | Huber, Charlotte A | |
dc.contributor.author | Clements, Archie | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2015-12-02T00:57:55Z | |
dc.date.available | 2015-12-02T00:57:55Z | |
dc.identifier.issn | 1471-2334 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12879-015-1258-4 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/1885/16959 | |
dc.description.abstract | BACKGROUND The epidemiology of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) has changed over the past decades with the emergence of highly virulent strains. The role of asymptomatic C. difficile colonization as part of the clinical spectrum of CDI is complex because many risk factors are common to both disease and asymptomatic states. In this article, we review the role of asymptomatic C. difficile colonization in the progression to symptomatic CDI, describe the epidemiology of asymptomatic C. difficile colonization, assess the effectiveness of screening and intensive infection control practices for patients at risk of asymptomatic C. difficile colonization, and discuss the implications for clinical practice. METHODS A narrative review was performed in PubMed for articles published from January 1980 to February 2015 using search terms ‘Clostridium difficile’ and ‘colonization’ or ‘colonisation’ or ‘carriage’. RESULTS There is no clear definition for asymptomatic CDI and the terms carriage and colonization are often used interchangeably. The prevalence of asymptomatic C. difficile colonization varies depending on a number of host, pathogen, and environmental factors; current estimates of asymptomatic colonization may be underestimated as stool culture is not practical in a clinical setting. CONCLUSIONS Asymptomatic C. difficile colonization presents challenging concepts in the overall picture of this disease and its management. Individuals who are colonized by the organism may acquire protection from progression to disease, however they also have the potential to contribute to transmission in healthcare settings. | |
dc.description.sponsorship | LFK is funded by an Endeavour Postgraduate Scholarship (#3781_2014), an Australian National University Higher Degree Scholarship, and a Fondo para la Innovación, Ciencia y Tecnología Scholarship (#095-FINCyT-BDE-2014). AC is funded by an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council Senior Research Fellowship (#1058878). | |
dc.format | 11 pages | |
dc.publisher | BioMed Central | |
dc.rights | © 2015 Furuya-Kanamori et al. Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. | |
dc.source | BMC Infectious Diseases | |
dc.subject | epidemiology | |
dc.subject | Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) | |
dc.subject | highly virulent strains | |
dc.subject | asymptomatic C. difficile colonization | |
dc.subject | clinical spectrum | |
dc.subject | symptomatic CDI | |
dc.subject | effectiveness of screening and intensive infection control | |
dc.subject | implications for clinical practice | |
dc.title | Asymptomatic Clostridium difficile colonization: epidemiology and clinical implications | |
dc.type | Journal article | |
dc.language.rfc3066 | en | |
dc.rights.holder | Furuya-Kanamori et al. | |
local.identifier.citationvolume | 15 | |
dcterms.dateAccepted | 2015-10-31 | |
dc.date.issued | 2015-11-14 | |
local.identifier.ariespublication | U3488905xPUB16526 | |
local.publisher.url | http://www.biomedcentral.com/ | |
local.type.status | Published Version | |
local.contributor.affiliation | Furuya-Kanamori, Luis., National Centre for Epidemiology & Population Health, CMBE Research School of Population Health, The Australian National University | |
dc.relation | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1058878 | |
local.identifier.essn | 1471-2334 | |
local.bibliographicCitation.issue | 1 | |
local.bibliographicCitation.startpage | 516 | |
local.identifier.doi | 10.1186/s12879-015-1258-4 | |
dc.date.updated | 2015-11-17T07:02:20Z | |
dcterms.accessRights | Open Access | |
Collections | ANU Research Publications |
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