Molecular epidemiology of Clostridioides (previously Clostridium) difficile isolates from a university hospital in Minas Gerais, Brazil

Anaerobe. 2019 Apr:56:34-39. doi: 10.1016/j.anaerobe.2019.01.010. Epub 2019 Jan 29.

Abstract

The molecular epidemiology of 38 non-duplicate toxigenic Clostridioides (previously Clostridium) difficile isolates from inpatients from a hospital in Brazil during a 6-year period (2012-2017) were investigated by multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and ribotyping. These isolates were classified into 20 sequence types (ST), six (30%) of which were novel, revealing a high diversity in a single hospital. Classic hypervirulent strains ST1/RT027 and ST11/RT078 were not identified, while ST42 (almost all RT106) was the most common type, being detected in 11 (28.9%) strains. Noteworthy, six (15.8%) isolates were classified into five STs from clade 2, four of which were new ST and RT. Our study suggests that possible hypervirulent strains other than ST1/RT027 might be inadvertently circulating in Brazilian hospitals and highlights the importance of permanent surveillance on circulating strains in a national scale.

Keywords: Hypervirulent Clostridium difficile; Nosocomial diarrhea.

MeSH terms

  • Brazil / epidemiology
  • Clostridioides difficile / classification*
  • Clostridioides difficile / genetics
  • Clostridioides difficile / isolation & purification*
  • Clostridium Infections / epidemiology*
  • Clostridium Infections / microbiology*
  • Genotype*
  • Hospitals, University
  • Inpatients
  • Molecular Epidemiology
  • Multilocus Sequence Typing
  • Ribotyping