Patients admitted to a hospital room previously occupied by a patient infected with Clostridioides difficile had 27 percent increased odds of being diagnosed with an infection, according to findings from researchers at Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University.
The study, published Feb. 22 in the American Journal of Infection Control, involved all adult inpatients admitted to five U.S. acute care hospitals from July 2016 to December 2018.
More than 2,000 C. diff infections were reported among nearly 219,000 hospital admissions during the study period. Researchers used a logistic regression to assess if staying in a contaminated room increased the risk of infection among subsequent patients. A room was considered contaminated for each day it was occupied by an actively infectious patient and for 30 days after.
Findings showed patients admitted to a contaminated room had 27 percent increased odds of subsequently being diagnosed with C. diff if exposed within the past 90 days, and 40 percent increased odds if exposed within 365 days, the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy reports.
"This study adds further evidence that hospal environments in patient rooms may contribute to risk for [C. diff infection]", researchers said.
The CDC estimates the bacteria caused 223,900 cases in hospitalized patients and 12,800 deaths in 2017, the most recent estimate available.