In Australia we have not yet seen “hypervirulent” C. diff, and this organism has traditionally been a low infection control priority in Australian childrens hospitals: We rarely see severe or relapsing disease, and asymptomatic carriage of toxigenic strains in younger children has meant that diagnostic testing is not performed routinely for hospital-onset diarrhoea.

Should we start taking this more seriously, in anticipation of the (probably inevitable) arrival of more pathogenic strains?

Do N. American labs routinely test for C. difficile on diarrhoeal stools from children >48 hours after admission, or when a history of antibiotic use is provided?

What do you do with children who test positive? Do you follow the full SHEA/IDSA recommendations, or some modified version of these?

Have you seen much severe C. difficile disease in children due to the emerging strains in adult/geriatric areas?

Thanks in anticipation of your comments,

David Andresen

Medical Microbiologist

Childrens Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, Australia

__________________________________________________________________

THE APPLICATION DEADLINE HAS BEEN EXTENDED!

Submit your application today! SHEA will close the application process when a competitive number have been received.

The SHEA Pediatric Investigator Award is intended to recognize the work of investigators in pediatric infection prevention and control/healthcare epidemiology who submit abstracts for presentation at SHEA’s Annual Scientific Meeting.

The award consists of:

• $1,000
• A plaque
• Registration to SHEA 2009

Selection will be based on the breadth and quality of the nominee’s contributions to the field of pediatric
infection prevention and control/healthcare epidemiology and on the scientific merit of the nominee’s accepted abstract.

Eligibility

1. Nominees must be members or fellows of SHEA in good standing
2. Nominees must exhibit significant contributions to pediatric infection prevention and control/healthcare epidemiology
3. Nominees must be in practice for less than 15 years (star ting from the time of
   completion of fellowship training)
4. Prior recipients are ineligible for this award
5. Prior recipients of the SHEA Investigator Award are ineligible for this award
6. Nominees’ abstracts must be accepted for presentation at SHEA’s Annual Scientific
   Meeting

Nomination Procedure

1. A nomination letter from a SHEA member outside of the nominee’s institution
2. A letter of suppor t from the nominee’s academic division chief
3. Applicant’s curriculum vitae
4. A hard copy of the applicant’s electronically submitted abstract

Mail or fax to:

SHEA Awards
1300 Wilson Blvd., 300
Arlington, VA 22209
Fax: (703) 684-1009
E-mail: info@shea-online.org

Important 2009 Abstract and Awards Deadline: Monday, November 17, 2008 at 5:00 p.m. ET
Submit Online