Epidemiological aspects of Clostridium difficile-induced diarrhea and colitis.

Clostridium difficile has been shown to be a cause of antimicrobial agent-associated diarrhea and colitis. The source from which this organism gains access to the gastrointestinal tract is not known. Cultures of the hospital environments of six of eight patients whose fecal cultures were positive for C. difficile yielded this organism, whereas cultures of control hospital sites were almost invariably negative. These data suggest that hospital environmental contamination may be a potential source of infection. Further studies are needed to determine the role of various possible sources of C. difficile in human diarrheal disease.