ArticleAntimicrobial resistance and infection control2016
Low frequency of asymptomatic carriage of toxigenic Clostridium difficile in an acute care geriatric hospital: prospective cohort study in Switzerland.
Article in Antimicrobial resistance and infection control, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.
- Heterogeneity of Clostridioides difficile asymptomatic colonization prevalence: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Gut pathogens · 2025Article
- Prevalence and Strain Characterization ofFrontiers in microbiology · 2018Article
- Toxigenic Clostridium difficile colonization among hospitalised adults; risk factors and impact on survival.The Journal of infection · 2017Observational
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe role of asymptomatic carriers of toxigenic Clostridium difficile (TCD) in nosocomial cross-transmission remains debatable. Moreover, its relevance in the elderly has been sparsely studied.
objectivesTo assess asymptomatic TCD carriage in an acute care geriatric population.
methodsWe performed a prospective cohort study at the 296-bed geriatric hospital of the Geneva University Hospitals. We consecutively recruited all patients admitted to two 15-bed acute-care wards. Patients with C. difficile infection (CDI) or diarrhoea at admission were excluded. First bowel movement after admission and every two weeks thereafter were sampled. C. difficile toxin B gene was identified using real-time polymerase chain-reaction (BD MAX(TM)Cdiff). Asymptomatic TCD carriage was defined by the presence of the C. difficile toxin B gene without diarrhoea.
resultsA total of 102 patients were admitted between March and June 2015. Two patients were excluded. Among the 100 patients included in the study, 63 were hospitalized and 1 had CDI in the previous year, and 36 were exposed to systemic antibiotics within 90 days prior to admission. Overall, 199 stool samples were collected (median 2 per patient, IQR 1-3). Asymptomatic TCD carriage was identified in two patients (2 %).
conclusionsWe found a low prevalence of asymptomatic TCD carriage in a geriatric population frequently exposed to antibiotics and healthcare. Our findings suggest that asymptomatic TCD carriage might contribute only marginally to nosocomial TCD cross-transmission in our and similar healthcare settings.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.