The Patient Impact of CDI, Preventing Reoccurrence

The statistics of Clostridioides difficile (CDI) bear repeating. It is the number 1 healthcare associated infection (HAI) with over 500,000 cases and 12,000 deaths in the United States annually. With this infection, is the very real possibility of reoccurrence, which can happen at a rate of 15–35% of all CDI cases. Some data suggest that second and subsequent recurrences are common among patients who experience a recurrent episode.¹

Kevin Garey, PharmD, MS, chair of the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Translational Research and professor of pharmacy practice at the University of Houston in Houston, Texas, says therapy protocols are developed around trying to prevent recurrence.

“Nowadays with C diff infection, your therapies are based on what can I do to make it go away and not come back.”

Although the aforementioned numbers are daunting, there are a number of therapies and modalities that are in development and there is a lot of hope in the potential treatment of this infection.

Garey presentated his program, “Treatment and Diagnostic Stewardship of CDI Infections,” at the 24th Annual Making a Difference in Infectious Disease (MAD-ID) Meeting 2022 in Orlando, Florida from May 18-21.

Contagion spoke to Garey during the meeting who provided insights on his presentation and the possibility of new therapies and modalities being added to the armamentarium.

Reference

1.Singh T, Bedi P, Bumrah K, Singh J, Rai M, Seelam S. Updates in treatment of recurrent Clostridium difficile infection. J Clin Med Res. 2019;11(7):465–71. https://doi.org/10.14740/jocmr3854