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Clinical outcomes did not differ between children with, without C. difficile
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The presence of Clostridium difficile in the stool of children aged 2 years or younger did not indicate a difference in clinical outcomes to children without the pathogen, according to data presented at ICAAC 2014.
Marcela González-Del Vecchio, MD, of the Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón in Madrid, and colleagues assessed risk factors and clinical outcomes between 100 children with an isolation of C. difficile in their stool and 100 children without an isolation of C. difficile. All study participants were aged 2 years or younger. Samples were collected in 2012.
Marcela González-Del Vecchio
Forty percent of children without C. difficile were in-hospital patients vs. 20% of children with C. difficile (P=.002). Children without C. difficile were admitted to the hospital for a longer period than those with C. difficile (P=.023). Thirty-two percent of children without C. difficile had a second pathogen detected in their stools vs. 25% of children with C. difficile.
Children with C. difficile had a greater amount of previous C. difficile isolates in their stools and had a longer duration of diarrhea compared with children without C. difficile.
Overall, 19% of children with C. difficile received metronidazole and did not appear to have a poorer outcome than children who did not receive specific treatment.
“There is no evidence of a worse outcome of children aged 2 years or younger with isolation of toxigenic C. difficile in their stools. Metronidazole treatment did not influence clinical outcome,” the researchers concluded.
For more information:
González-Del Vecchio M. Abstract G-991. Presented at: 2014 Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy; Sept. 5-9; Washington, D.C.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.