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DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1777090
Evidence-Based Commentary: Testing for Clostridioides difficile Infection
Funding SK receives research support from Rebioitx / Ferring, Vedanta, Finch, Seres and Pfizer. SK serves as a consultant for ProbioTech, Takeda and Rise.
What Is Clostridioides difficile Infection, and Why Is It a Significant Healthcare Concern?
Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is a bacterial infection of the large intestine caused by the gram-positive, spore-forming bacterium, C. difficile. It is a significant healthcare concern due to low quality of life, an increasing incidence, high morbidity, recurrence rates, and economic burden.[1] [2] Furthermore, CDI is a leading cause of healthcare infection, affecting hospitalized and recently discharged patients. Its contagious nature poses a risk to healthcare facilities. C. difficile infection is associated with various risk factors, the most prominent being recent antibiotic exposure, particularly broad-spectrum antibiotics, which disrupt the normal gut microbiota and allow C. difficile to proliferate.[3] Other risk factors include advanced age, longer length of stay, chemotherapy, immunosuppression, and gastrointestinal surgery. C. difficile infection presents with diarrhea, abdominal pain, and fever, and in severe cases, it can lead to pseudomembranous colitis, toxic megacolon, or even sepsis. Given the increasing prevalence and severity of CDI, timely and accurate diagnosis is crucial to guide appropriate therapy, reduce transmission, and improve patient outcomes.
Potential Competing Interests
Research grants from Rebiotix / Ferring, Finch, Vedanta and consulting fees from Seres, Takeda, Immuron, Niche and ProbioTech Inc.
Ethical Statement
Not applicable.
Author Contribution
All authors contributed equally to the article.
Data Availability Statement
There are no data associated with this work.
Publication History
Received: 16 October 2023
Accepted: 19 October 2023
Article published online:
20 December 2023
© 2023. Gastroinstestinal Infection Society of India. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
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References
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