Distribution of Clostridium difficile PCR ribotypes and high proportion of 027 and 176 in some hospitals in four South Eastern European countries

Maja Rupnik; Arjana Tambic Andrasevic; Elena Trajkovska Dokic; Ivanka Matas; Milica Jovanovic; Selma Pasic; Aleksander Kocuvan; Sandra Janezic

doi:10.1016/j.anaerobe.2016.10.005

Distribution of Clostridium difficile PCR ribotypes and high proportion of 027 and 176 in some hospitals in four South Eastern European countries

Anaerobe. 2016 Dec:42:142-144. doi: 10.1016/j.anaerobe.2016.10.005. Epub 2016 Oct 15.

Authors

Maja Rupnik¹, Arjana Tambic Andrasevic², Elena Trajkovska Dokic³, Ivanka Matas⁴, Milica Jovanovic⁵, Selma Pasic⁶, Aleksander Kocuvan⁷, Sandra Janezic⁸

Affiliations

¹ National Laboratory for Health, Environment and Food, NLZOH, Maribor, Slovenia; University of Maribor, Faculty of Medicine, Maribor, Slovenia. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Department of Clinical Microbiology, University Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Zagreb, Croatia.
³ Institute for Microbiology and Parasitology, Medical Faculty, Skopje, R. Macedonia.
⁴ Institute for Public Health, Zadar, Croatia.
⁵ Department of Microbiology, Clinical Center of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia.
⁶ Jasika, Zagreb, Croatia.
⁷ University of Maribor, Faculty of Medicine, Maribor, Slovenia.
⁸ National Laboratory for Health, Environment and Food, NLZOH, Maribor, Slovenia; University of Maribor, Faculty of Medicine, Maribor, Slovenia.

PMID: 27751937
DOI: 10.1016/j.anaerobe.2016.10.005

Abstract

While Clostridium difficile epidemiology is well documented in many European countries, data are largely missing for South Eastern European region. Here we report the PCR ribotype distribution of 249 C. difficile isolates received for typing from six hospital settings from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of Macedonia and Serbia in time period from 2008 to 2015. Twenty-four PCR ribotypes were detected. The majority of strains from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia belonged to PCR ribotype 027 (65.8%). Other three dominating PCR ribotypes were 176 (18 strains; Croatia), 001/072 (15 strains; all countries) and 014/020 (15 strains; all countries).

Keywords: Clostridium difficile; Endemic ribotypes; Outbreak; Ribotype 027; Ribotype 176.

MeSH terms

Clostridioides difficile / classification*
Clostridioides difficile / genetics
Clostridioides difficile / isolation & purification*
Disease Outbreaks*
Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / diagnosis
Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / epidemiology*
Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / microbiology
Europe, Eastern / epidemiology
Hospitals
Humans
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Ribotyping