Background: Clostridium difficile can cause severe antibiotic-associated colitis. Conventional treatments with metronidazole and vancomycin improve symptoms, but after discontinuation of treatment, C. difficile infection (CDI) recurs in a number of patients. Rifaximin is a rifamycin-based non-systemic antibiotic that has effect against C. difficile.
Aim: To assess the effectiveness of rifaximin in recurrent C. difficile infection.
Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the records of 32 patients who were treated with rifaximin for recurrent C. difficile infection. The symptoms were evaluated 12 weeks after the start of treatment and patient records were followed up until 1 year after treatment.
Results: The mean age of the patients was 55 years (median 64, range: 19-84 years). Before the initiation of rifaximin therapy, the patients had undergone, on the average, 4.4 (range: 2-12) antimicrobial courses for C. difficile infection. C. difficile strain typing was performed in 27 patients. Eight (30%) patients had a strain with a DNA profile compatible with the BI/NAP1/027 ribotype. Antibiotic susceptibilities were determined of isolates from 22 patients. Most isolates (68%) had very low MIC-values for rifampin (<0.002 μg/mL) and the highest MIC value was 3.0 μg/mL. Isolates with a DNA profile compatible with the BI/NAP1/027 ribotype had, on the average, higher MICs of rifampin. After 12 weeks 17 (53%) patients had no relapse. The MIC value of rifampin seemed to predict the response to rifaximin treatment.
Conclusions: Rifaximin is a safe treatment for C. difficile infection. It has a reasonable effect in C. difficile infection and it can be considered as an optional treatment for recurrent C. difficile infection.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/apt.12111 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Effectiveness of oral vancomycin as prophylaxis against infection in hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients.
Antimicrob Steward Healthc Epidemiol
August 2024
Department of Pharmacy, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Brunswick, NJ, USA.
Objective: Patients receiving hematopoietic stem cell transplants (HSCT) are at increased risk for infection (CDI). The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of oral vancomycin prophylaxis (OVP) for CDI in HSCT patients.
Design: Single-center, retrospective cohort.
The economic burden of post-endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) procedure infections in Italy.
Glob Reg Health Technol Assess
December 2024
Department of Hospital Pharmacy, Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Turin - Italy.
Introduction: The infections of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) associated with duodenoscopes during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) procedure have become a significant cause for concern, especially in fragile patients. While the clinical impacts of these infections are well-documented, their economic implications remain underexplored. This study assesses the incidence and economic burden of post-ERCP infections in Italy using an administrative database.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFManagement of Recurrent Clostridioides difficile Infection (rCDI): A Systematic Literature Review to Assess the Feasibility of Indirect Treatment Comparison (ITC).
Infect Dis Ther
January 2025
Global Research and Medical, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, Kastrup, Denmark.
Recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection (rCDI) is a major cause of increased morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs. Fecal-microbiota-based therapies are recommended for rCDI on completion of standard-of-care (SoC) antibiotics to prevent further recurrence: these therapies include conventional fecal-microbiota transplantation and the US Food and Drug Administration-approved therapies REBYOTA® (RBL) and VOWST Oral Spores™ (VOS). As an alternative to microbiota-based therapies, bezlotoxumab, a monoclonal antibody, is used as adjuvant to SoC antibiotics to prevent rCDI.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe evolving landscape of live biotherapeutics in the treatment of Clostridioides difficile infection.
Indian J Gastroenterol
January 2025
Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic, 200 1st Street SW, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA.
Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) infection (CDI) is common after antibiotic exposure and presents significant morbidity, mortality and healthcare costs worldwide. The rising incidence of recurrent CDI, driven by hypervirulent strains, widespread antibiotic use and increased community transmission, has led to an urgent need for novel therapeutic strategies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSurveillance of Clostridioides difficile on hospital admission and outpatient antibiotic use in Germany-a 9 year ecological analysis.
J Antimicrob Chemother
January 2025
Institute for Hygiene and Environmental Medicine, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Joint institution of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität Berlin, Institut für Hygiene und Umweltmedizin, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Hindenburgdamm 27, 12203 Berlin, Germany.
Background: Antibiotic consumption is considered an important risk factor for Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI). This ecological analysis investigates the influence of outpatient antibiotic prescriptions in statutory health insurance (SHI) on the admission prevalence of CDI in German hospitals participating in voluntary CDI surveillance through the hospital infection surveillance system (Krankenhaus-Infektions-Surveillance-System; KISS).
Methods: The annual CDI admission prevalence of a hospital at the federal state level was associated with the outpatient antibiotic consumption of the corresponding federal state.
Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!