Longitudinal genomic surveillance of carriage and transmission of Clostridioides difficile in an intensive care unit.

ABSTRACT: Despite enhanced infection prevention efforts, Clostridioides difficile remains the leading cause of healthcare-associated infections in the United States. Current prevention strategies are limited by their failure to account for patients who carry C. difficile asymptomatically, who may act as hidden reservoirs transmitting infections to other patients. To improve the understanding of asymptomatic carriers' contribution to C. difficile spread, we conducted admission and daily longitudinal culture-based screening for C. difficile in a US-based intensive care unit over nine months and performed whole-genome sequencing on all recovered isolates. Despite a high burden of carriage, with 9.3% of admissions having toxigenic C. difficile detected in at least one sample, only 1% of patients culturi

SUBMITTER: Miles-Jay A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10579090 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature