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Clostridium difficile — what is the Australian story?

Paul D R Johnson and Rhonda L Stuart
Med J Aust 2014; 200 (5): . || doi: 10.5694/mja14.00142
Published online: 17 March 2004

Have distance and preparedness helped our hospitals dodge the C. difficile bullet?

In his acclaimed book The tyranny of distance, Geoffrey Blainey argued that Australia's history has been deeply shaped by distance and isolation.1


  • 1 Infectious Diseases Department, Austin Health and University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC.
  • 2 Monash Infectious Diseases, Monash Health and Monash University, Melbourne, VIC.


Correspondence: Paul.Johnson@austin.org.au

Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

  • 1. Blainey G. The tyranny of distance: how distance shaped Australia's history. Sydney: Macmillan, 1966.
  • 2. Hyslop A. A question of identity: JHL Cumpston and Spanish influenza, 1918–1919. Aust Cult Hist 1997-1998; 16: 77-95.
  • 3. Finn T. Six months in a leaky boat. Melbourne: Mushroom Records, 1982.
  • 4. Loo VG, Poirier L, Miller MA, et al. A predominantly clonal multi-institutional outbreak of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea with high morbidity and mortality. N Engl J Med 2005; 353: 2442-2449.
  • 5. Kuijper EJ, Coignard B, Tull P. Emergence of Clostridium difficile-associated disease in North America and Europe. Clin Microbiol Infect 2006; 12 Suppl 6: 2-18.
  • 6. Gilmour D. HCAIs: statutory code of practice in England and Wales. J Perioper Pract 2007; 17: 266-268, 270-271.
  • 7. Cheng AC, Ferguson JK, Richards MJ, et al. Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of Clostridium difficile infection. Med J Aust 2011; 194: 353-358. <MJA full text>
  • 8. Riley TV, Thean S, Hool G, Golledge CL. First Australian isolation of epidemic Clostridium difficile PCR ribotype 027. Med J Aust 2009; 190: 706-708. <MJA full text>
  • 9. Richards M, Knox J, Elliott B, et al. Severe infection with Clostridium difficile PCR ribotype 027 acquired in Melbourne, Australia. Med J Aust 2011; 194: 369-371. <MJA full text>
  • 10. Lim SK, Stuart RL, Mackin K, et al. Emergence of a ribotype 244 strain of Clostridium difficile associated with severe disease and related to the epidemic ribotype 027 strain. Clin Infect Dis 2014; in press.
  • 11. Eyre DW, Cule ML, Wilson DJ, et al. Diverse sources of C. difficile infection identified on whole-genome sequencing. N Engl J Med 2013; 369: 1195-1205.
  • 12. Slimings C, Armstrong P, Beckingham WD, et al. Increasing incidence of Clostridium difficile infection, Australia, 2011–2012. Med J Aust 2014; 200: 272-276.

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