Clostridium difficile is strictly anaerobic, rod-shaped, spore-forming, toxigenic gut bacterium, which can cause a wide spectrum of diseases, from diarrhea to pseudomembranous colitis, mainly occurring in the hospital. Epidemiological studies showed that alternative reservoars of bacteria exists that needs to be explored. The purpose of the thesis was to evaluate the presence and freuqency of C. difficile on soles of footwear (shoes, slippers) and on dog paws, and if these surfaces serve as a potential route for dissemination of spores in domestic environment. Swabs were taken from dog paws, soles of slippers and from left and right shoe soles seperately. Samples were incubated in an enrichment broth BHIST, and subjected to alcohol shock. C. difficile was then isolated on chromogenic plates. Overall the bacterium was present in 14 of 20 households. We isolated the bacterium from 31 of the total of 90 samples. Altogether 465 isolates were characterized, which were distributed into 13 different PCR-ribotypes and 3 toxinotypes. Shoe soles had the highest percentage of positives samples (19/44). In four households the bacterium was found on all sampled surfaces. Our results demonstrated that soles of shoes, slippers and dog paws could serve as a potential vector for the dissemination of C. difficile spores in domestic environment.
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