C. difficile infection, originally considered a hospital required infection relating to failed infection control, may be more closely related to antibiotic control. Here are four things to know about recent developments in C. difficile infection management.
• Fidaxomicin: Fidaxomicin is the second drug for the treatment of CDI to receive FDA approval. Fidaxomicin has an initial response rate of 88 percent, while vancomycin, the first CDI drug treatment to earn approval, has an 86 percent initial response rate. Relapse rate is 15 percent in fixadomicin patients and 25 percent in vancomycin patients.
• Odor test: Researchers in the Netherlands trained a beagle to sit if the odor of CDI was detected. The dog’s performance was near perfect. It has long been claimed nurses can identify CDI patients by the odor in the room. Though evidence suggests a “smell test” may be accurate, it is unlikely to be widely used.
• Surgical treatment: Surgical treatment of CDI involves the diversion of loop ileostomy with colonic vancomycin lavage. Researchers hope this new treatment will replace colectomy as the standard for CDI patients that require surgery.
• Fecal microbiota transplantation: FMT has demonstrated high cure rates and low morbidity rates. A new variation of the procedure involved the implantation of cultured organisms of the normal gut microbiome, rather than human stool. The product has been tested in two patients with promising results.
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