Role of previous systemic antibiotic therapy on the probability of recurrence after an initial episode of Clostridioides difficile infection treated with vancomycin.

Objectives: To investigate the role of previous antibiotic therapy in the risk of recurrence after a Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) treated with vancomycin. Methods: Multicentre observational study. Patients with a CDI episode achieving clinical cure with oral vancomycin and followed up 8 weeks were included. Previous antibiotic exposure up to 90 days was collected. Multivariate analysis of predictors of recurrence adjusted by the propensity score (PS) of being previously treated with each non-CDI antibiotic was performed. Results: Two hundred and forty-one patients were included; 216 (90%) had received systemic antibiotics. Fifty-three patients (22%) had a CDI recurrence. Rates of recurrence were lower in those treated with piperacillin/tazobactam in the last month when compared with those not receiving piperacillin/tazobactam [3 (7%) versus 50 (25%); P = 0.01], whereas higher rates were seen in those treated with cephalosporins in the last month [26/87 (30%) versus 27/154 (17%); P = 0.03]. In multivariate analysis controlled by the inverse probability of treatment weighting by PS, receiving ≥5 days of piperacillin/tazobactam in the last month as the last antibiotic regimen prior to CDI was independently associated with a lower risk of recurrence [adjusted OR (AOR) 0.13; 95% CI: 0.06-0.29; P < 0.0001] whereas exposure for ≥5 days to cephalosporins (versus piperacillin/tazobactam) was associated with an increased risk (AOR 10.9; 95% CI: 4.4-27.1; P < 0.0001). Conclusions: Recent use of piperacillin/tazobactam might be associated with a lower risk of CDI recurrence, while recent use of cephalosporins might promote an increased risk. These findings should be considered when treating hospitalized patients.

Impact of COVID19 pandemic on the incidence of health-care associated Clostridioides difficile infection.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the impact of COVID19 pandemic on the incidence of health-care associated Clostridioides difficile infection (HA-CDI). METHODS: Retrospective study conducted in the Hospital Universitario de Valme (HUV) and the Hospital General Universitario de Alicante (HGUA) in Spain between January 2019 and February 2021. The study period was divided into non-COVID19 period (2019 and months from 2020 to 2021 with ≤30 hospitalized COVID19 patients) and COVID19 period (months from 2020 to 2021 with >30 COVID19 patients). HA-CDI incidence rates (IR) were calculated as the number of new CDI cases per 10.000 occupied bed-days (OBD) and antimicrobial consumption by means of the defined daily dose (DDD) per 1000 OBD. RESULTS: During the COVID19 period, HA-CDI IR in the HUV was 2.6 per 10.000 OBD, which was lower than what was observed during the non-COVID19 period (4.1 per 10.000 OBD; p = 0.1). In the HGUA, HA-CDI IR during COVID19 period was 3.9 per 10.000 OBD, which was not significantly different to the IR observed during the non-COVID19 period (3.7 per 10.000 OBD; p = 0.8). There was a slight increase in the total antibiotic consumption during COVID19 period in both hospitals, with significant increases of certain high-risk antibiotics as cephalosporins. CONCLSUSIONS: HA-CDI incidence has not increased during the COVID19 pandemic in two tertiary centers in Spain, in spite of a slightly higher antibiotic consumption during the COVID19 period in both hospitals. These findings suggest that, in the presence of strict infection control measures, hospital antibiotic consumption might have a lower impact than expected on HA-CDI.