Increased risk of diarrhoea caused by Clostridium difficile in elderly patients receiving cefotaxime

Abstract

The geriatric unit at Hammersmith Hospital has 46 beds. We reviewed the clinical notes of all our patients with C difficile diarrhoea from April 1993 to November 1994. C difficile diarrhoea was defined as the passing of unformed stools in which C difficile toxin A was detected using a commercial enzyme immunoassay (Meridian Diagnostics Inc). In the case of a relapse only the first episode was counted. Affected patients were isolated or nursed together in a bay of the ward. “Notional courses” were used to estimate the total number of courses of each antibiotic (a seven day course of the most commonly prescribed dose regimen).3