Clostridium difficile infection in Brazil: a neglected problem?

Metronidazole for Treatment of Clostridioides difficile Infections in Brazil: A Single-Center Experience and Risk Factors for Mortality

We describe the epidemiology of C. difficile infections (CDIs) focused on treatment and analyze the risk factors for mortality. This is a retrospective cohort study of CDI cases with a positive A/B toxin in the stool in 2017–2018. We analyzed the demographic data, comorbidities, previous use of antimicrobials, severity, and treatment, and we performed multivariate analysis to predict the 30-days mortality. We analyzed 84 patients, 37 (44%) of which were male, where the mean age was 68.1 years and 83 (99%) had comorbidities. The percentage of positivity of the A/B toxin was 11.6%, and the overall incidence density was 1.78/10,000 patient days. Among the patients, 65.4% had previous use of antimicrobials, with third-generation cephalosporins being the class most prescribed, and 22.6% of cases were severe. Treatment was prescribed for 70 (83.3%) patients, and there was no statistically significant difference between the initial treatment with metronidazole and vancomycin even in severe cases. The 30-day mortality was 7/84 (8.3%), and the risk factors associated with mortality was a severity score ≥2 (OR: 6.0; CI: 1.15–31.1; p = 0.03). In this cohort of CDI-affected patients with comorbidities and cancer, metronidazole was shown to be a good option for treating CDIs, and the severity score was the only independent risk factor for death.

Detection and pathogenic potential of Clostridium difficile in commercial meat and meat products in Brazil

The aims of this study were to evaluate the occurrence of Clostridium difficile in commercial raw meat and meat products commercialized in Brazil, and to determine the pathogenic potential and antimicrobial susceptibility of the isolates. After selective enrichment, the isolation of C. difficile involved plating with and without an alcohol shock treatment onto C. difficile moxalactam agar (CDMNA). The toxigenic profile was determined through PCR for detection of tcdA, tcdB, cdtA and cdtB genes and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for toxin A/B. C. difficile was isolated from 8.9% (17 out of 192) of analyzed samples. Plating without alcohol treatment (sensitivity of 88.23%) was more efficient than with alcohol treatment (sensitivity of 29.41%) in C. difficile isolation. The profile A + B+CDT- was observed in 35.0% (28/80) of the isolates. The A/B toxin was tested in 44 isolates and 15.9% of them were positive. Resistance to clindamycin, ceftizoxime tetracycline, metronidazole, vancomycin, and ceftriaxone were observed among isolates. Multi-drug resistance was detected in 36.4% (8/22) of the isolates evaluated.

Multicenter study of the epidemiology of Clostridioides difficile infection and recurrence in southern Brazil

Clostridioides (Clostridium) difficile is the main etiology underlying antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD). Still, few Brazilian data are available on this infection. The aims of this multicenter study were to identify the prevalence, clinical characteristics, and outcomes of C. difficile infection (CDI) in patients with antibiotic associated diarrhea at eight hospitals in Curitiba, southern Brazil, during the years 2017-2019. Stool samples were tested using enzyme immunoassay for glutamate dehydrogenase antigen (GDH) and A/B toxins. Positive GDH samples were further evaluated by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the presence of genes encoding toxin B (tcdB), binary toxin (cdt), and marker of hypervirulent C. difficile strain (tcdC deletion). The prevalence of CDI in 351 patients with AAD included in the study was 17.7% (n = 62). Among the CDI cases, tcdB was positive in all 62 stool samples, while cdt was positive in 10 samples, and tcdC deletion was positive in only two. Carriage of carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacilli, previous hospitalization, and use of broad-spectrum cephalosporin and carbapenem were associated with CDI. Among patients with CDI, 64.5% presented with severe diarrhea, and 8% (5/62) progressed with colitis and required intensive care. The 30-day mortality was 24% (15/62), and the CDI-associated mortality was 4.8% (3/62). Overall, 83.8% (52/62) of the patients achieved primary cure, and 20.8% of the evaluated patients (10/48) presented CDI recurrence. The treatment administered was not significantly associated with the 60-day recurrence or mortality. In conclusion, we reported in this study data of prevalence and recurrence rates of CDI in patients with AAD and evaluated the number of severe cases and infection-related mortality, which were up to now unknown in Southern Brazilian hospitals.

Clostridium difficile contamination in retail meat products in Brazil

INTRODUCTION

Clostridium difficile is an important cause of diarrhoea, particularly in patients receiving antibiotic therapy. Recent studies have shown that a substantial proportion of C. difficile infections are acquired in the community, as a zoonotic disease. Brazil is a large exporter of meat and so far no study has evaluated meat contamination with C. difficile spores.

METHODS

Here we analysed 80 retail meat products purchased from local supermarkets in a Brazilian metropolis (Porto Alegre, Southern Brazil). Samples from these products were grown in anaerobic conditions, and tested with a real time polymerase chain reaction test.

RESULTS

Contamination with C. difficile spores was not found in the study. Bacteria isolated from meat included Streptococcus gallolyticus, Lactobacillus plantarum, Enterococcus gallinarum and Pediococcus acidilactici.

DISCUSSION

Close vigilance is required in order to guarantee the quality of Brazilian retail meat in the long term.

Assessing the Burden of Clostridium difficile Infection in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

In contrast to the significant resources invested in the diagnosis and prevention of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) in resource-rich settings, in resource-limited settings patients with community- and hospital-acquired diarrhea may not routinely be tested for CDI. Is CDI actually less frequent or severe in resource-limited settings, or might we be missing an important opportunity to prevent CDI-related morbidity and mortality (and to promote antibiotic stewardship) in these settings? Here, we review the literature to assess the overall burden of CDI in low- and middle-income countries.

Clostridium difficile Infection

Clostridium difficile is an anaerobic, Gram-positive, spore-forming, toxin-secreting bacillus that has long been recognized to be the most common etiologic pathogen of antibiotic-associated diarrhea. C. difficile infection (CDI) is now the most common cause of health care-associated infections in the United States and accounts for 12% of these infections (Magill SS et al., N Engl J Med370:1198-1208, 2014). Among emerging pathogens of public health importance in the United States, CDI has the highest population-based incidence, estimated at 147 per 100,000 (Lessa FC et al., N Engl J Med372:825-834, 2015). In a report on antimicrobial resistance, C. difficile has been categorized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as one of three "urgent" threats (http://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/threat-report-2013/). Although C. difficile was first described in the late 1970s, the past decade has seen the emergence of hypertoxigenic strains that have caused increased morbidity and mortality worldwide. Pathogenic strains, host susceptibility, and other regional factors vary and may influence the clinical manifestation and approach to intervention. In this article, we describe the global epidemiology of CDI featuring the different strains in circulation outside of North America and Europe where strain NAP1/027/BI/III had originally gained prominence. The elderly population in health care settings has been disproportionately affected, but emergence of CDI in children and healthy young adults in community settings has, likewise, been reported. New approaches in management, including fecal microbiota transplantation, are discussed.

A search for Clostridium difficile ribotypes 027 and 078 in Brazil

Toxigenic strains of Clostridium difficile may be disseminating. Here we prospectively screened patients with nosocomial diarrhoea in two hospitals in Brazil. To identify C. difficile polymerase chain reaction ribotypes 027/078 strains, we used high resolution melting and multiplex polymerase chain reaction. Among 116 screened patients, 11 were positive for C. difficile. The polymerase chain reaction ribotypes 027/078 strains were not identified in this study.