10 stories for C. difficile Awareness Month
November is Clostridioides Difficile Awareness Month in the United States, as declared by the C Diff Foundation, a nonprofit patient advocacy group.
To mark the occasion, Healio prepared a list of nine stories related to C. difficile.
Amount of toxin in stool correlates with C. difficile severity, study shows
Using a new highly sensitive assay, researchers demonstrated that the amount of toxin in stool correlates with the severity of C. difficile infection, with higher concentrations associated with severe disease at diagnosis. Read more.
IDSA, SHEA update guidance for managing patients with C. difficile
The Infectious Diseases Society of America and The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America released new guidelines for the management of C. difficile. Read more.
Microbiota-based CDI treatment successful and safe, studies show
An investigational microbiota-based live biotherapeutic therapy called RBX2660 was safe and effective in treating recurrent C. difficile infection. Read more.
C. difficile prevalent in non-health care settings — especially on shoes
Global surveillance of C. difficile showed that it was widely prevalent among isolates collected outside of health care settings — especially on the soles of shoes. Read more.
Large analysis finds asymptomatic C. difficile most common among infants
A meta-analysis revealed that, among asymptomatic children, the prevalence of C. difficile is greatest among infants aged 6 to 12 months. Read more.
Test restrictions more effective than EHR-based support at reducing C. difficile testing
An intervention that required administrative approval of all C. difficile testing after hospital day 3 outperformed electronic health record-based support in reducing C. difficile testing. Read more.
Antibiotic choice impacts C. difficile shedding and hospital contamination, study finds
Fidaxomicin and vancomycin reduced shedding of C. difficile spores faster and were associated with lower rates of hospital contamination compared with metronidazole. Read more.
Lactobacillus probiotic improves C. difficile infection rates at hospital
The rate of hospital-acquired C. difficile infection improved by 39% at a Quebec hospital when 70% of antibiotic users took a three-strain Lactobacillus probiotic under a pharmacy-driven protocol. Read more.
Lower socioeconomic status linked to community-associated C. difficile
Communities with lower socioeconomic status have a higher incidence of community-associated C. difficile infection, even more so among neighborhoods of households with low income or that are receiving public assistance income, or residents living below the poverty level, who are unemployed, or who have public health insurance. Read more.
Evidence grows that reducing fluroquinolone use can control C. difficile
Study data from 55 Veterans’ Affairs hospitals showed that facility-level fluroquinolone use was a significant predictor of nosocomial C. difficile infections. Read more.
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C. Diff Foundation. November awareness month. https://cdifffoundation.org/november/. Accessed Nov. 1, 2021.
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