Severe clinical outcome is uncommon in Clostridium difficile infection in children: a retrospective cohort study

Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is the most common cause of health care-associated diarrhea in children and adults. Although serious complications of CDI have been reported to be increasing in adults, this trend has not yet been demonstrated in children. The purpose of this study was to examine the features of CDI in a pediatric population, with special attention to the occurrence of CDI-related severe outcomes.

A chart review was conducted for patients with C. difficile infection detected by cytotoxin assay between August, 2008 and July, 2012. Basic demographics, mode of acquisition (nosocomial versus community), laboratory and clinical features, treatment, and outcome data were collected. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and polymerase chain reaction detection of toxin A (tcdA), toxin B (tcdB), binary toxin (cdtB) and tcdC genes were performed on isolates from nosocomial cases by the National Microbiology Laboratory, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Ninety percent of children with CDI experienced resolution of symptoms by 30 days after disease onset and 2% experienced a severe outcome. There were no cases where colectomy was performed for CDI, and only one case where CDI contributed to death. Various combinations of clinical and laboratory features were not predictive of a severe outcome. Seventy-four percent of cases were nosocomial-associated. Among all cultured strains, the NAP4 strain occurred most frequently (24%), followed by NAP1 (11%). There was no association between strain type and clinical outcome; however, relapses were significantly more frequent in NAP4-infected children.

Severe outcomes due to CDI are uncommon in children compared to adults. Further prospective pediatric studies on CDI in community and hospital settings are required to better understand risk factors, optimal treatment and the significance of NAP4 in pediatric CDI.