ISSN:
1435-4373
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Abstract In a prospective study conducted over a six-month period, the relative yield of 721 routine cultures of stool from adult inpatients as a function of the time after hospital admission was assessed.Salmonella, Campylobacter, Shigella orYersinia spp. were recovered from 10.9 % (41/377) of patients within three days of hospitalization and from only 1.5 % (5/344) after three days. However, a review of these patients' charts did not suggest nosocomial transmission but rather a delay in stool collection or asymptomatic carriage.Clostridium difficile was isolated with a high frequency in patients both within and after three days of hospitalization (10.3 % and 10.2 %, respectively). Thus, stool specimens from adults hospitalized for more than three days should not be cultured except forClostridium difficile unless there are plausible clinical or epidemiological reasons to do so.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02116530
Permalink