Epidemiology of Clostridium difficile in infants in Oxfordshire, UK: Risk factors for colonization and carriage, and genetic overlap with regional C. difficile infection strains.

In predominantly healthy infants without significant healthcare exposure C. difficile colonization and acquisition reflect environmental exposures, with pet dogs identified as a novel risk factor. Genetic overlap between some infant strains and those isolated from CDI cases suggest common community reservoirs of these C. difficile lineages, contrasting with those lineages found only in CDI cases, and therefore more consistent with healthcare-associated spread.