Reducing C difficile Incidence Rates

Clostridioides difficile continues to be the leading cause of health care–associated infections in the United States, with over 400,000 infections and an estimated 29,300 associated deaths annually.¹ Although the incidence rates have trended downward slightly, the burden of disease continues to loom large.

November is National C difficile Awareness Month, and the Peggy Lillis Foundation (PLF) for C diff Education & Advocacy is the premier C difficile organization dedicated to lending support and education to patients and caregivers.

PLF Cofounder and CEO Christian John Lillis says they are chipping away at awareness about the infection. “Since we launched this, our C difficile awareness campaign, 6 years ago, we have seen a 6-point increase in C difficile awareness,” Lillis said. “So we went from 40% of Americans having heard of C difficile to 46%—hopefully we crack 50%. I'd really like there to be more than half…. Six percent doesn't sound like a big number, but in a country the size of the US, we're talking about 20 million people who have learned about C difficile in the past 6 years.”

PLF has a full slate of activities this month directed at education. For example, tonight, PLF will offer its webinar "Household Hygiene Practices for People With C diff and Caregivers," which will be led by Cathy Egan, PhD, professor at Conestoga College in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. She will provide evidence-based guidance on safe home-cleaning practices during and after a C difficile infection. To sign up for tonight’s event, go here.

Additionally, the organization will conclude the month with its second annual Scientific Symposium on November 21—a full-day virtual event featuring experts discussing the latest developments in C difficile treatment, epidemiology, and prevention. To learn more about this event, go here.

Lillis says C difficile can be prevented, and awareness about prescribing practices is one way to do so. “There have been a few studies that have shown that you can reduce it by reducing the use of medically unnecessary antibiotics,” he said. “And also being picky about what class of antibiotics you use, you can reduce C difficile rates in hospitals by up to 80%.... The more you know about C difficile, the more you can be a partner in your care and in the decision-making.”

Reference
1. Guh AY, Mu Y, Winston LG, et al; Emerging Infections Program Clostridioides difficile Infection Working Group. Trends in U.S. burden of Clostridioides difficile infection and outcomes. N Engl J Med. 2020;382(14):1320-1330. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1910215