Clostridium difficile-associated colitis: cross infection in predisposed patients with renal failure

Four men with renal failure developed Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhoea while being cared for in the same ward at about the same time. Cross infection appeared to play a role. All patients had received antibiotics; three were treated for chest infections and one for a urinary tract infection. The antibiotics implicated were cefoxitin alone in two patients, cefoperazone alone in one patient and cloxacillin, cefoperazone and amoxycillin in the last patient. Two patients had received immunosuppressive agents as well. Clostridium difficile cytotoxin was detected in stools from all patients using a cell culture assay. Pseudomembranous colitis was demonstrated in two patients at sigmoidoscopy and in one at post mortem. All patient were given oral vancomycin. Two died with the disease, one following relapse in the absence of antibiotics, and two patients were cured only to die later of unrelated diseases. Isolation of affected patients seems prudent as the disease may be infectious.