Clostridium difficile shows no trade-off between toxin and spore production within the human host.

CONCLUSION: The strong positive association observed between in vivo levels of C. difficile toxin and spores suggests that patients with more severe C. difficile infections may have increased spore production, enhancing C. difficile transmission. Although, on average, spore levels were higher in toxin-positive samples than in toxin-negative/PCR-positive samples, spores were found in almost all toxin-negative samples. The ubiquity of spore production among toxin-negative and formed stool samples emphasizes the importance of following infection prevention and control measures for all C. difficile-positive patients during their entire hospital stay. PMID: 29533173 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Journal of Medical Microbiology - Category: Microbiology Authors: Tags: J Med Microbiol Source Type: research