Spatio-temporal variability of the epidemic 027 Clostridium difficile strains in France based on MLVA typing

MLVA analysis of 103 PCR ribotype 027 strains showed a regional specificity and the persistence of the same clone within a hospital several years apart. Capillary electrophoresis PCR ribotyping led to the identification of seven 027 variant strains and five 176 strains, four of them being implicated in an outbreak.