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Updated: Sep 3, 2025

A Protocol to Characterize the Morphological Changes of Clostridium difficile in Response to Antibiotic Treatment
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Early Life Antimicrobial Exposure: Impact on Clostridioides difficile Colonization in Infants

Chinwe Vivien Obiakor1, Jaclyn Parks2,3, Tim K Takaro2

  • 1School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 1C9, Canada.

Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland)
|July 27, 2022
PubMed

Insights

Antibiotic and household cleaner exposure increases infant Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) colonization. This risk is higher with combined exposure, persisting to 12 months, highlighting environmental factors in infant gut health.

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Pediatrics
  • Environmental Health

Background:

  • The link between antibiotics and Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) is known in adults but not fully understood in infants.
  • Infant exposure to antimicrobials and household cleaning products may influence C. difficile colonization.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of antibiotics and household cleaning products on C. difficile colonization in infants.
  • To assess the separate and combined effects of these exposures.

Main Methods:

  • Study included 1429 infants at 3-4 months and 1728 at 12 months from the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) cohort.
  • Antimicrobial exposure data collected via birth charts and questionnaires.
  • Infant gut microbiota analyzed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing; C. difficile quantified by qPCR.

Main Results:

  • C. difficile colonization rates were 31% at 3-4 months and 46% at 12 months.
  • Infants exposed to both antibiotics and high household cleaner use showed significantly higher C. difficile colonization at 3-4 months (aOR 1.50, p=0.032).
  • This increased colonization persisted up to 12 months of age.

Conclusions:

  • Cumulative exposure to systemic antibiotics and higher household cleaner use promotes C. difficile colonization in infants.
  • Environmental factors play a role in infant susceptibility to C. difficile.
  • Further research is needed to determine long-term health implications.

Keywords:
C. difficileClostridioides difficileantibioticsantimicrobialscleaning productsgut microbiotainfant

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