Abstract
Forty-one children with a variety of gastrointestinal complaints were diagnosed with Clostridium difficile infections as part of a routine screen over 3 years. The infection had not been suspected prior to the screen. Each child responded to treatment with metronidazole with resolution of their symptoms. These data suggest that community-associated C difficile is increasing and may produce atypical disease and lead to misdiagnosis.
MeSH terms
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Biopsy, Needle
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Child
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Child, Preschool
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Clostridioides difficile / isolation & purification*
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Clostridium Infections / diagnosis
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Clostridium Infections / drug therapy
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Clostridium Infections / epidemiology*
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Colonoscopy / methods
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Community-Acquired Infections / diagnosis
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Community-Acquired Infections / epidemiology*
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Diagnosis, Differential
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Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / diagnosis*
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Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / epidemiology
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Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / microbiology
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Female
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Humans
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Incidence
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Male
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Mass Screening / methods
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Metronidazole / therapeutic use
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Retrospective Studies
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Risk Assessment
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United States / epidemiology