Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Sequelae of Asymptomatic Clostridioides difficile Colonization in Children with Cystic Fibrosis.

Patients with CF (pwCF) have high antibiotic use and an altered intestinal microbiome, known risk factors for infection with Clostridioides difficile. However, in adults with CF, C. difficile infection (CDI) is uncommon and asymptomatic colonization with C. difficile occurs frequently, for reasons that remain unclear. We investigated the rate, risk factors, and sequelae of asymptomatic C. difficile colonization in children with CF (cwCF). We identified that 32% of cwCF were colonized with C. difficile without acute gastrointestinal symptoms. Higher BMI and exposure to specific antibiotic classes (cephalosporins, fluoroquinolones, and vancomycin) were significantly associated with C. difficile colonization. No children developed symptomatic CDI in 90-days following enrollment.

Pediatric Fecal Microbiota Transplantation in Recurrent Clostridioides Difficile.

With the rising rates of Clostridioides (Clostridium) difficile infection (CDI) in children, recognizing the limitations of CDI-directed antibiotic therapy, especially in recurrent CDI (rCDI), is important. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), which directly targets the underlying gut dysbiosis present in rCDI, is an important treatment option to consider in rCDI. This article will summarize indications, procedures, effectiveness, and the safety of FMT for rCDI in pediatric patients. [Pediatr Ann. 2021;50(12):e515-e521.].

Two-step Testing for Clostridioides Difficile is Inadequate in Differentiating Infection From Colonization in Children.

OBJECTIVES: Recent Infectious Disease Society of America guidelines recommend multistep testing algorithms to diagnose Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI), including a combination of nucleic acid amplification-based testing (NAAT) and toxin enzyme immunoassay (EIA). The use of these algorithms in children, including the ability to differentiate between C. difficile colonization and CDI, however, has not been evaluated. METHODS: We prospectively enrolled asymptomatic pediatric patients with cancer, cystic fibrosis (CF), or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and obtained a stool sample for NAAT testing. If positive by NAAT (colonized), EIA was performed. In addition, children with symptomatic CDI who tested positive by NAAT via the clinical laboratory were enrolled, and EIA was performed on residual stool. A functional cell cytotoxicity neutralization assay (CCNA) was also applied to stool samples from both the colonized and symptomatic cohorts. RESULTS: Of the 225 asymptomatic children enrolled in the study, 47 (21%) were colonized with C. difficile including 9/59 (15.5%) with cancer, 30/92 (32.6%) with CF, and 8/74 (10.8%) with IBD. An additional 41 children with symptomatic CDI were enrolled. When symptomatic and colonized children were compared, neither EIA positivity (44% vs 26%, P = 0.07) nor CCNA positivity (49% vs 45%, P = 0.70) differed significantly or were able to predict disease severity in the symptomatic cohort. CONCLUSIONS: Use of a multistep testing algorithm with NAAT followed by EIA failed to differentiate symptomatic CDI from asymptomatic colonization in our pediatric cohort. As multistep algorithms are moved into clinical care, the pediatric provider will need to be aware of their limitations.