Transmission_dynamics_of_C__difficile_in_asymptomatic_patients

Clostridium difficile is the leading cause of healthcare-associated infectious colitis. Here, we applied a genome based infection tracking method to understand the transmission dynamics of CDI in a US based hospital as we speculate that every hospital has a different transmission rates of CDI. Moreover, the sample collection includes samples from colonized patients who do not manifest symptoms of CDI at admission (asymptomatic patients) represent an underappreciated source of ongoing transmission of CDI within hospital units. This potential reservoir for CDI would unlikely be remedied by current CDI mitigation strategies. Therefore, a better understanding of the transmission dynamics of C. difficile for this potential CDI reservoir is required.