Molecular epidemiology of Clostridium difficile in two tertiary care hospitals in Shandong Province, China Ying Luo,1,2 Wen Zhang,2 Jing-Wei Cheng,3 Meng Xiao,3 Gui-Rong Sun,1 Cheng-Jie Guo,2 Ming-Jun Liu,1 Pei-Shan Cong,1 Timothy Kudinha4,5 1Department of Clinical Laboratory, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao, China; 2Department of Clinical Laboratory, Zibo Central Hospital, Zibo, China; 3Department of Clinical Laboratory, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China; 4Charles Sturt University, Orange, NSW, Australia; 5Central West Pathology Laboratory, Orange, NSW, Australia Purpose: The incidence and severity of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) have markedly increased over the past decade. However, there is very limited epidemiological data on CDI in China so far, specifically no data in Shandong Province. The aim of this study was to evaluate diagnostic algorithm for CDI and to gain data on molecular epidemiology of CDI in the Shandong Province of China.Materials and methods: Nonrepetitive unformed fecal specimens