RESUMO
Clostridium difficile is associated to episodes of diarrhea related to the use of antibiotics in general hospitals. The aim of this study has been to determine the incidence of this complication among the patients admitted in a 400 bed general hospital in Lima, Perú; we registered every day, in all the wards of the hospital, the presence of diarrhea in patients under antibiotic treatment. In every patient with diarrhea we investigated the presence of cytotoxin and cultivated for C. difficile in the feces. Only 25 patients presented diarrhea and none of them showed inflammatory changes in the endoscopic exploration. Only one patient presented positive cytotoxin with negative culture. In the control group of 41 new-born, asymptomatic infants, already on breast-feeding there were 27 (65.8%) culture and/or cytotoxin positive. We conclude that in our adult population colitis due to C. difficile, associated to antibiotic therapy is an infrequent disease.