Review article: The epidemiology and management of Clostridioides difficile infection-A clinical update

Clostridioides difficile is the most common cause of healthcare-associated infection, and severe cases can result in significant complications. While anti-microbial therapy is central to infection management, adjunctive therapies may be utilised as preventative strategies.

This article aims to review updates in the epidemiology, diagnosis, and management, including treatment and prevention, of C. difficile infections.

A narrative review was performed to evaluate the current literature between 1986 and 2023.

The incidence of C. difficile infection remains significantly high in both hospital and community settings, though with an overall decline in recent years and similar surveillance estimates globally. Vancomycin and fidaxomicin remain the first line antibiotics for treatment of non-severe C. difficile infection, though due to lower recurrence rates, infectious disease society guidelines now favour use of fidaxomicin. Faecal microbiota transplantation should still be considered to prevent recurrent C. difficile infection. However, in the past year the field has had a significant advancement with the approval of the first two live biotherapeutic products-faecal microbiota spores-live brpk, an oral capsule preparation, and faecal microbiota live-jslm-both indicated for the prevention of recurrent C. difficile infection, with additional therapies on the horizon.

Although the prevalence of C. difficile infection remains high, there have been significant advances in the development of novel therapeutics and preventative measures following changes in recent practice guidelines, and will continue to evolve in the future.