Has a new type of C. difficile infection been detected recently?
The HPA initiated a sampling scheme on 1 January 2005 to detect new types of C.difficile. One strain that has been identified through this sampling scheme is C.difficile 027 which is closely related to a strain previously found in North America. The HPA first detected 027 in Preston in 1999 as a single isolate but it was not related to any notable outbreak or disease severity. It wasn’t until the outbreak at Stoke Mandeville hospital that this strain was identified as the cause of an outbreak.
