PCR ribotyping of clinically important Clostridium difficile strains from Hungary

Isolates of Clostridium difficile from different hospital wards at the Univ ersity Hospital of Szeged in Hungary were typed by PCR amplification of rRN A intergenic spacer regions (PCR ribotyping). A total of 15 different ribot ypes was detected among the 65 isolates tested. The predominant type, PCR r ibotype 087, accounted for 39% of all isolates, in contrast with an interna tional typing study where ribotype 001 was the most common. Two non-toxigen ic C. difficile strains were found to exhibit the same pattern, which was d istinct from those of all the ribotypes described previously, suggesting th at this is a new type.