OBJECTIVES Clostridioides difficile infection has traditionally been considered to be transmitted predominantly within health-care settings. It is not recognized as a pathogen that presents a risk of laboratory acquisition. Data on laboratory contamination and acquisition by laboratory personnel are lacking. Our objective was to assess environmental contamination by C. difficile and its potential for transmission in a clinical microbiology laboratory. METHODS Laboratory surfaces were screened for C. difficile. Samples were taken in areas that handle C. difficile isolates (high-exposure (HE) areas), areas adjacent to HE areas or those processing faecal samples (medium-exposure (ME) areas), and areas that do not process faecal samples or C. difficile isolates (low-exposure (LE) areas). We examined C. difficile carriage (hands/rectal samples) of laboratory workers. RESULTS A total of 140 environmental samples were collected from two HE areas (n = 56), two ME areas (n = 56) and two LE areas (n = 28). Overall, 37.8% (37/98) of surfaces were contaminated with C. difficile, and 17.3% (17/98) with toxigenic C. difficile (TCD). HE areas were significantly more contaminated with TCD than LE areas (38.1% (16/42) versus 0.0% (0/14), p 0.005) and ME areas (38.1% (16/42) versus 2.4% (1/42), p <0.001). Hands were colonized with TCD in 11.8% (4/34) of cases. We found no rectal carriage of C. difficile. CONCLUSIONS We found a significant proportion of laboratory surfaces to be contaminated with toxigenic C. difficile, as well as hand colonization of laboratory personnel. We recommend specific control measures for high-risk areas and laboratory personnel working in these areas.

中文翻译：

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在临床微生物学实验室中难辨梭状芽胞杆菌污染？

目的传统上认为艰难梭菌感染主要在卫生保健机构内传播。它未被认为是存在实验室收购风险的病原体。缺乏有关实验室污染和实验室人员采集的数据。我们的目标是评估艰难梭菌对环境的污染及其在临床微生物学实验室中传播的潜力。方法筛选实验室表面的艰难梭菌。在处理艰难梭菌分离物的区域（高暴露（HE）区域），邻近HE区域的区域或处理粪便样品的区域（中等暴露（ME）区域）以及不处理粪便样本或粪便的区域中取样。艰难梭菌分离物（低暴露（LE）区域）。我们检查了C。实验室工作人员的艰难运输（手/直肠样本）。结果从两个HE区域（n = 56），两个ME区域（n = 56）和两个LE区域（n = 28）总共收集了140个环境样品。总体而言，难辨梭状芽孢杆菌污染了37.8％（37/98）的表面，而产毒性艰难梭菌（TCD）污染了17.3％（17/98）的表面。相对于LE区域（38.1％（16/42）对0.0％（0/14），p 0.005）和ME区域（38.1％（16/42）对2.4％（1/42） ，p ＜0.001）。11.8％（4/34）的病例中，手被TCD定植。我们没有发现艰难梭菌的直肠运输。结论我们发现很大一部分实验室表面被产毒艰难梭菌污染，以及实验室人员的手工定植。