Nosocomial diarrhoeas in a surgical division hyperendemic for Clostridium difficile: epidemiologic aspects emerging from an analysis of clinical records.

Having previously shown that Clostridium difficile was responsible for an intense and protracted endemic of nosocomial diarrhoeas in the surgical division of a Tuscan hospital, we started a retrospective analysis on all records from the affected division, to cover a period of 15 months. A statistical description is given of a large series of nosocomial diarrhoeas, as well as direct estimates of their incidence rates in selected high risk subgroups. The situation described is epidemiologically unique, and its study tells how an endemic may reach a steady state of high nosocomial morbidity.