As antibiotic resistance grows, so does research toward preventing and treating Clostridioides difficile, a bacterium known to be one of the leading causes of healthcare-associated infections in U.S. patients that can sometimes turn fatal. Often, infections from it occur while a patient is on antibiotics or shortly after they have finished a course.
Annually, C. diff is responsible for around 500,000 infections and 48,700 deaths, and is listed by the CDC as one of the top five drug-resistant pathogens in need of aggressive action. Recent drug therapies and advancements in care hope to reduce those numbers.
Here are seven advancements made in the research of C. diff in 2023:
- In April, groups including the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, The Joint Commission, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, and the American Hospital Association, revised guidelines on C. diff infection control. The major change was elevating the practice of adopting an antibiotic stewardship program to an "essential practice."
- The FDA approved the first oral drug to help treat C. diff infections in April. Vowst, the name of the oral medication, was approved to prevent recurrences of C. diff in patients over 18 after antibacterial treatment.
- A study published in May and led by researchers from Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health in Atlanta found that bedside nurses play a key role in prevention of hospital-onset C. diff. Hospitals that were ranked higher in a nurse and practice environment index had a lower instance of C. diff infections, suggesting that a focus on positive, supportive work environments for nurses in hospitals does have a relationship to infection rates in patients.
- Research published in August found a significant rise in C. diff infections among children, reporting that there are nearly 20,000 cases annually in kids. However, unlike adults, C. diff cases in kids are typically community-acquired rather than hospital-acquired.
- A study published in November by Veterans Affairs hospitals found that patients who were treated for pneumonia and subsequently given a second-in-line antibiotic, doxycycline, reduced C. diff infections by 45%.
- Hypochlorites, a broadly used hospital disinfectant, was determined by the CDC in November to be ineffective against C. diff.
- Patients who occupy a hospital bed that was previously used for a patient with a C. diff infection are more likely to catch C. diff themselves, according to research published Dec. 13.