C difficile Infection Rates Dropped During COVID Pandemic

Incidence of C difficile infection (CDI) in hospitals “declined significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with the prepandemic period.” CIDRAP has the news.

Researchers from Hangzhou Medical College in China undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis of 16 studies of CDI incidence from December 2019 through December 2025. Most of the studies were conducted in high-income countries.

The pooled incidence rate of CDI “declined from 4.42 per 10,000 patient-days before the pandemic to 3.80 per 10,000 patient-days during the pandemic, representing a 20% decline in CDI incidence.” The observed reduction was attributable to the “combined effects of changes in infection prevention and control, antimicrobial stewardship, and health care delivery. For example, enhanced hand hygiene, rigorous use of personal protective equipment, and increased environmental cleaning likely disrupted C difficile transmission, while reduced used of fluoroquinolones may have reduced selective pressure on certain C diff strains. Suspension of elective procedures, reduced surgical volume, and shorter hospital stays may have limited patient exposure.”

All of those factors “may have offset countervailing pandemic-related forces that exacerbated the risk of CDI and other healthcare-associated infections.”