High colonization rate and prolonged shedding of Clostridium difficile in pediatric oncology patients.
Samuel R Dominguez, Susan A Dolan, Kelly West, Raymund B Dantes, Erin Epson, Deborah Friedman, Cynthia A Littlehorn, Lesley E Arms, Karen Walton, Ellen Servetar, Daniel N Frank, Cassandra V Kotter, Elaine Dowell, Carolyn V Gould, Joanne M Hilden, James K Todd
Surveillance testing for Clostridium difficile among pediatric oncology patients identified stool colonization in 29% of patients without gastrointestinal symptoms and in 55% of patients with prior C. difficile infection (CDI). A high prevalence of C. difficile colonization and diarrhea complicates the diagnosis of CDI in this population.