A new, hypervirulent strain of Clostridium difficile may be taking hold in Australia, specialists warn, after a man acquired the infection in Melbourne.
In a report published in the MJA this week, infectious disease specialists describe what is believed to be the first locally acquired case of C. difficile ribotype 027.
The bug has caused substantial morbidity and mortality in the northern hemisphere, but had left Australia unscathed until now, the specialists wrote.
The patient, an 83-year-old man, underwent an aortic valve replacement in late January, two days after which he developed severe sepsis from a urinary tract infection.
He was treated with antibiotics and a noradrenaline infusion but developed watery diarrhoea five days after the surgery, with stool samples revealing C. difficile...
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