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Updated: May 8, 2026

Culturing and Maintaining Clostridium difficile in an Anaerobic Environment
Published on: September 14, 2013
Asymptomatic carriage of toxigenic Clostridium difficile by hospitalized patients
D M Guerrero1, J C Becker, E C Eckstein
1Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA.
Abstract:
Asymptomatic carriage of Clostridium difficile is common in hospitals, but the risk for transmission by carriers is unclear. In this point prevalence culture survey of asymptomatic hospitalized patients, 18 of 149 (12%) were carriers of toxigenic C. difficile. By comparison with C. difficile infection (CDI) patients, the prevalence of skin and/or environmental contamination was significantly lower in asymptomatic carriers (3/18, 17% versus 5/6, 83%; P = 0.007), but carriers outnumbered CDI patients in the hospital by a factor of 3 to 1. These data suggest that asymptomatic carriers have the potential to contribute to C. difficile transmission in hospitals.
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