IDSA: Study Looks at Rates of C. difficile Hospital Infections

Higher rates of infection found in hospitals with fewer than 100 beds than in larger hospitals

FRIDAY, Oct. 30 (HealthDay News) -- In hospitalized patients, approximately 10 percent of Clostridium difficile infections (CDI) are recurrent, with smaller hospitals potentially more impacted than mid- to large-sized hospitals, according to research presented this week at the annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, held from Oct. 29 to Nov. 1 in Philadelphia.

Ying Tabak, Ph.D., of Cardinal Health in Marlborough, Mass., and colleagues studied the epidemiology of CDI across 88 U.S. hospitals between 2007 and 2008.

The researchers identified 11,076 CDI cases in 9,801 patients, including 8,766 single initial cases, 246 two initial cases, 605 one initial and one recurrent case, and 184 three or more cases. They further found that CDI incidence density per 10,000 patient-days was 12.5 for initial and 1.1 for recurrent cases, and that the median CDI incidence density combining initial and recurrent cases was 13.3. They also found that CDI incidence density was higher in hospitals with fewer than 100 beds (17.8 per 10,000 patient-days) than in those with 100 to 300 beds, or more than 300 beds (14.4 and 12.9 per 10,000 patient-days, respectively).

"Nearly 10 percent of CDI cases in hospitalized patients were recurrent; 10 percent of CDI case-patients had multiple cases over an 18-month surveillance period. Many patients remained at risk for a subsequent case even after the surveillance time frame for recurrent CDI had passed. Smaller hospitals appear more impacted by CDIs than larger hospitals," the authors conclude.

Several authors reported financial and consulting relationships with pharmaceutical companies.

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