Abstract
Stool specimens collected from 320 infants under 5 years of age resident in both rural and urban centres of Nsukka and Enugu towns in Anambra State, Nigeria were examined for the presence of Clostridium difficile and the frequency of occurrence determined. Clostridium difficile was isolated from 156 out of 320 samples (48.8%). The frequency was higher in infants resident in rural areas (52.5-48.3%) than in their urban counterparts (47.8-42%). A high frequency rate (77%) was obtained in diarrheal cases as against 42% in non diarrheal cases. A frequency of 57.7% was obtained in infants in the age group of 1 day – 1 yr, which decline with age to the lowest 5.6% in the age group of 4.5 years. The frequency of 66.1% was obtained in infants breast-fed plus formula supplementation, 41.7% in infants exclusively breast-fed and 33% in infants fed exclusively with formula foods. The findings suggest that the type of living environments, together with age and mode of feeding may contribute to the high intestinal carriage of Clostridium difficile in infants in parts of Nigeria.
Microbiologica 08/1990; 13(3):267-71.
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