Analysis of daily samples from patients, room surfaces, and healthcare worker hands finds the spread of C diff is more than 3-fold higher than in studies relying only on patient samples.
Over a 10-year period, 84% of C diff patients in Australia who were treated with FMT achieved primary cure.
Patients with immunocompromised status and prior hospitalization for C difficile were among those at increased risk of antibiotic exposure following FMT.
Study authors say the results in immunocompromised patients are consistent with those from previous clinical studies of the fecal microbiota–based therapeutic.
Among 547 episodes of C difficile infection documented in cancer patients in Australia and Spain, 50% were severe, and the 90-day recurrence rate was 16%
Patients considered highly socially vulnerable were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with severe C diff infection and die from it than less vulnerable people.
Updated guidelines recommend fidaxomicin as the first-line agent for C difficile infection, but researchers found use in US hospitals remains low.
A placebo-controlled randomized trial found fecal microbiota transplantation was safe but failed to reduce recurrence of Clostridioides difficile infection.
The small-molecule protein synthesis inhibitor CRS3121 met its primary endpoints, with high rates of clinical cure at day 12 and low rates of CDI recurrence.
The vaccine didn't reduce C difficile infections in at-risk adults, but it did show the potential to reduce infection severity and limit need for medical attention.
