Incidence of healthcare-associated Clostridioides difficile infections and association with ward-level antibiotic consumption in a German university hospital: an ecological study.

Objectives: Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is one of the most important healthcare-associated infections. We aimed to describe the incidence density of healthcare-associated CDI (HA-CDI) in Germany's largest hospital and to identify associations with ward-level antimicrobial consumption.

Methods: We used surveillance data on CDI and antimicrobial consumption from 2014 to 2017 and analysed a potential association by means of multivariable regression analysis.