New ACG Guidelines on C difficile Infections: Key Takeaways

This transcript has been edited for clarity.

Hello. I'm Dr David Johnson, professor of medicine and chief of gastroenterology at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Virginia.

The American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) has published new guidelines to advise clinicians in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of Clostridioides difficile infections. These guidelines are meant to supplement those from the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, which were published in 2018.

The ACG guidelines offer a very timely update, and I'd like to give you a quick overview as to what's changed and what I think we really need to know.

Epidemiologic Considerations

Cases of C difficile infection are on the rise, as is well known by anyone involved in clinical care and particularly by those working in a hospital. From 2001 to 2012, the annual incidence of C difficile infection increased by 43%. More importantly, cases of multiply recurrent C difficile infection increased by 188% over that same timeframe. Annually, this translates into approximately 450,000 cases of infection and 14,000 deaths occurring as a result.

Although recent evidence has suggested that there's been a decrease in the national burden of these infections, thanks in part to our increased epidemiologic knowledge, at least in the hospital setting, they remain a point of considerable concern.