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The occurrence of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing isolates has increased worldwide. Fecal carriage of ESBL-producing isolates has mainly been detected in nosocomial outbreaks, and few studies have evaluated fecal carriage during nonoutbreak situations and among patients in the community. We have studied the prevalence of ESBLs in 1,239 fecal samples from 849 patients (64.1% of whom were ambulatory) in 1991 and have compared the prevalence data with those obtained in 2003 for 400 fecal samples from 386 patients (75.9% of whom were ambulatory) and 108 samples from independent healthy volunteers. Samples were diluted in saline and cultured in two MacConkey agar plates supplemented with ceftazidime (1 μg/ml) and cefotaxime (1 μg/ml), respectively. Colonies were screened (by the double-disk synergy test) for ESBL production. The clonal relatedness of all ESBL …