Recovery of Clostridium difficile from children

The occurrence of Clostridium difficile in faecal specimens of 218 children, aged 2 weeks to 15 years, was studied. The organism was recovered from 43 (20%) of the children (range 2 weeks to 10 years). The isolation frequency was significantly correlated to age. Thus, in children 1 to 8 months of age the organism occurred in 64%, while in children below and above that age C. difficile could only be recovered in 4%. No significant difference in the recovery frequency could be demonstrated between children with (23%) and without (17%) gastroenteritis. C. difficile occurred numerically more often in non-antibiotic treated children (22%) than in those given such drugs (13%). None of the children in the present study had evidence of pseudomembranous colitis. A comparative study of different selective media did not demonstrate any difference in the recovery frequency of C. difficile. The media used were Chopped Meat Glucose broth with cycloserine and either kanamycin or cefoxitin, and Cycloserine-Cefoxitin-Fructose agar.