CDC AMR report downgrades C. diff threat level in US

Image by ItsHong - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=144440730

 

A new report from the CDC has downgraded the threat of C. diff infections in the United States from ‘urgent’ to ‘serious’. The CDC has reported a decline in overall cases in the past 15 years, but data shows community-associated cases are on the rise.

 

The Antimicrobial Resistance Threats report provides a snapshot of the threat that bacterial and fungal pathogens pose to human health in the US. Antibiotics can disrupt the levels of helpful bacteria in the gut and create an environment for C. diff bacteria to thrive.

 

Clostridioides difficile, or C. diff, bacteria cause diarrhea and colitis (inflammation of the colon). C. diff can spread from person to person in fecal matter (poop) or by touching contaminated surfaces. These bacteria are common in health care and the natural environment. While rare, serious complications of C. diff infections can occur, including toxic megacolon (a severe intestinal condition), sepsis (the body's extreme response to an infection), and even death.

In 2023, Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) caused more than 400,000 estimated cases among hospitalized and non-hospitalized patients, more than 11,000 estimated deaths among hospitalized patients, and more than $6.4 billion in healthcare costs overall.

Previous Antimicrobial Resistance Threats Reports (AR Threats Report) only included hospitalized C. diff cases. This report expands that scope to include both hospitalized and non-hospitalized C. diff cases, offering a more comprehensive picture of C. diff's burden in the United States.

While C. diff was on CDC's urgent threats list in the 2013 and 2019 AR Threats Reports, CDC has measured declines in cases since 2011. Because of successful prevention actions, especially in healthcare settings, C. diff is now categorized as a serious threat. Still, C. diff causes substantial infections, deaths, and healthcare costs in the United States. C. diff remains one of the most common causes of healthcare-associated infections in hospitals, and there is an even greater number of community-associated cases. Continued infection control and appropriate antibiotic use remain important for sustaining progress in reducing C. diff infections. CDC will continue to monitor trends in C. diff burden and the potential for the development of resistance to treatments.

 

The story of Peggy Lillis is used in this year’s report as a reminder of the harm that antibiotic overuse can cause. The healthy 56-year-old was prescribed the antibiotic, clindamycin, following a root canal. She died from complications of C. diff about a week later.

 

“Antibiotics are miracle drugs. They underpin most modern medicine. To avoid unnecessary infections and prolong these drugs' effectiveness, we must first see both the potential harms, as well as benefits, of antibiotics,” said Peggy’s son, Christian.

 

Christian and his brother founded the Peggy Lillis Foundation in their mother’s honor to raise awareness of C. diff and educate the public about the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance. More of her story is shared in the new report, at the link below:

https://arpsp.cdc.gov/artr/cdiff#story

Posted by Dr. Tim Sandle, Pharmaceutical Microbiology Resources (http://www.pharmamicroresources.com/)