Hospital finds multiple cases of C. diff with reduced susceptibility to fidaxomicin
Clostridioides difficile isolates with a clinically relevant reduced susceptibility to fidaxomicin were found in six patients at one facility, indicating the potential of such isolates to spread in health care settings, according to the authors of a recent study.
Isolates of Clostridioides difficile with reduced fidaxomicin susceptibility may be emerging, a single-site study found.
Researchers at one institution occasionally identified Clostridioides difficile infections (CDIs) that failed to respond to fidaxomicin and subsequently looked for isolates with reduced susceptibility in all CDIs. Results were published Feb. 28 in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Over three years, there were 328 episodes of CDI in 296 patients. Most (79.9%) were initial diagnoses; 37.2% were treated with fidaxomicin and 62.8% were treated with vancomycin.
Of 108 fidaxomicin-treated patients, six (5.6%) were infected with isolates that had reduced fidaxomicin susceptibility (minimum inhibitory concentrations, 8 to 32 µg/mL). Of the six, three had achieved clinical cure with fidaxomicin, two experienced clinical failure, and one had refractory CDI.
A more complete summary of the study is available in the March 12 ACP Hospitalist, a publication exclusive to ACP members.