This study aimed to characterize Clostridium difficile isolates cultured from stool samples of patients with C. difficile infection (CDI) and swabs from a medical environment in a gastroenterology center in Tehran, Iran. A total of 158 samples (105 stool samples from hospitalized patients and 53 swabs from medical devices and the environment) were collected from January 2011 to August 2011 and investigated for the presence of C. difficile by direct anaerobic culture on a selective media for C. difficile. C. difficile isolates were further characterized by capillary electrophoresis (CE) ribotyping and toxin gene multiplex PCR. Of 158 samples, C. difficile was cultured in 19 of 105 stool samples (18%) and in 4 of 53 swabs (7.5%). C. difficile PCR ribotype (RT) 126 was the most common RT in the study (21.7%). Further RTs were: 001, 003, 014, 017, 029, 039, 081, 103 and 150. RTs 126, 001, 150 were cultured from both the stool samples and swabs of medical devices and the hospital environment which suggest a possible route of transmission.

Department of Medical Microbiology 2nd Faculty of Medicine Charles University Prague and Motol University Hospital Prague Czech Republic

Foodborne and Waterborne Diseases Research Center Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences Tehran Iran

Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases Research Center Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences Tehran Iran

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