Community-onset Clostridium difficile infection at a tertiary medical center in southern Taiwan, 2007-2015

Alteration of gut microbial composition associated with the therapeutic efficacy of fecal microbiota transplantation in Clostridium difficile infection

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE

Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) leads to a significant cause of hospital-acquired morbidity and mortality. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is effective to treat recurrent or refractory CDI (rCDI). However, the change of microbial composition contributed by FMT and its association with treatment outcomes is not well determined in Taiwan. We aimed to investigate the efficacy of FMT and the association with microbial alteration endemically.

METHODS

Twelve patients who received FMT for rCDI in Taipei Veterans General Hospital were prospectively enrolled from April 2019 to July 2020. The clinical assessments and fecal microbial analyses in comparison with fecal materials of unrelated donors were conducted before and after FMT.

RESULTS

The overall success rate of FMT for rCDI was 91.7%. A prominence of Proteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria and Enterobacteriales were observed in the feces of patients with rCDI. Increased fecal phylogenetic diversities and a significant microbial dissimilarity were provided by successful FMT compared to patients before treatment. However, the distinctness was not obvious between patients' feces at baseline and after unsuccessful FMT. Moreover, dynamic change of fecal microbial composition after FMT was observed during follow-up but did not interrupt the treatment effects of FMT.

CONCLUSION

Gut dysbiosis commonly co-exists in patients with rCDI. Restoration of gut microbial communities by FMT provides a promising strategy to treat antibiotic-failed CDI, and the extent of microbial change would be related to the treatment outcomes of FMT. Besides, the effectiveness of FMT for CDI could be maintained even the gut microbiota has diverged over time.

Clostridioides difficile infection: an emerging zoonosis?

INTRODUCTION

Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) infection (CDI) is the most common cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhea and one of the common infections in healthcare facilities. In recent decades, there has been an emerging threat of community-acquired CDI (CA-CDI). Environmental transmission of C. difficile in the community setting has become a major concern, and animals are an important reservoir for C. difficile causing human diseases.

AREAS COVERED

In this article, the molecular epidemiology of C. difficile in animals and recent evidences of zoonotic transfer to humans are reviewed based on an electronic search in the databases of PubMed and Google Scholar.

EXPERT OPINION

C. difficile can be found in stool from diarrheal dogs and cats; therefore, household pets could be a potential source. C. difficile will threaten human health because hypervirulent C. difficile ribotype 078 strains have been found in retail chickens, pig farms, and slaughterhouses. Risk factors for fecal C. difficile carriage in animals include young age, dietary changes, and antibiotic abuse in domestic animals. With the advent of whole genome sequencing techniques, there will be more solid evidence indicating zoonotic transfer of C. difficile from animals to humans.

Clostridioides difficile infection in patients with hematological malignancy: A multicenter study in Taiwan

BACKGROUND

Among the individuals with hematological malignancy (HM) complicated with Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI), the variables associated with in-hospital mortality and recurrence of CDI were investigated.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Including adults with HM and those without malignancy suffering from CDI from January 2015 to December 2016 in three hospitals in Taiwan.

RESULTS

Totally 314 patients including 77 with HM and 237 patients without malignancy were included. HM patients more often had low leukocyte counts (<500 cells/mL: 28.6% vs. 2.1%) than those without malignancy and more patients without malignancy had severe CDI than patients with HM (31.6% vs. 14.3%, P = .003), according to the severity score of IDSA/SHEA. Patients with HM had a higher recurrence rate of CDI (14.3%, 11/77 vs. 7.2%, 17/237; P = .07) and longer hospital stay (47.2 ± 40.8 days vs. 33.3 ± 37.3 days; P = .006) than those without malignancy. In the multivariate analyses for those with HM and CDI, the in-hospital mortality was associated with vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) colonization or infection (odds ratio [OR] 7.72; P = .01), and C. difficile ribotype 078 complex infection (OR 9.22; P = .03). Moreover underlying hematological malignancy (OR 2.74; P = .04) and VRE colonization/infection (OR 2.71; P = .02) were independently associated with CDI recurrence.

CONCLUSION

Patients with HM complicated with CDI were often regarded as non-severe infection, but had a similar in-hospital mortality rate as those without malignancy. CDI due to ribotype 078 complex isolates heralded a poor prognosis among HM patients.

National Surveillance of Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Bacteremic Gram-Negative Bacteria with Emphasis on Community-Acquired Resistant Isolates: Report from the 2019 Surveillance of Multicenter Antimicrobial Resistance in Taiwan (SMART)

A multicenter collection of bacteremic isolates of Escherichia coli (n = 423), Klebsiella pneumoniae (n = 372), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n = 300), and Acinetobacter baumannii complex (n = 199) was analyzed for susceptibility. Xpert Carba-R assay and sequencing for mcr genes were performed for carbapenem- or colistin-resistant isolates. Nineteen (67.8%) carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae (n = 28) and one (20%) carbapenem-resistant E. coli (n = 5) isolate harbored bla _KPC (n = 17), bla _OXA-48 (n = 2), and bla _VIM (n = 1) genes.

Recommendations and guidelines for the treatment of Clostridioides difficile infection in Taiwan

Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is a major enteric disease associated with antibiotic use and a leading cause of hospital-acquired infections worldwide. This is the first guideline for treatment of CDI in Taiwan, aiming to optimize medical care for patients with CDI. The target audience of this document includes all healthcare personnel who are involved in the medical care of patients with CDI. The 2018 Guidelines Recommendations for Evidence-based Antimicrobial agents use in Taiwan (GREAT) working group was formed, comprising of infectious disease specialists from 13 medical centers in Taiwan, to review the evidence and draft recommendations using the grading of recommendations assessment, development, and evaluation (GRADE) methodology. A nationwide expert panel reviewed the recommendations during a consensus meeting in March 2019. The recommendation is endorsed by the Infectious Diseases Society of Taiwan (IDST). This guideline describes the epidemiology and risk factors of CDI, and provides recommendations for treatment of CDI in both adults and children. Recommendations for treatment of the first episode of CDI, first recurrence, second and subsequent recurrences of CDI, severe CDI, fulminant CDI, and pediatric CDI are provided.

Fecal microbiota transplantation for Clostridium difficile infection in Taiwan: Establishment and implementation

Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) remains a major public health issue, and fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has become one of the standard therapies for recurrent or refractory CDI. When compared to medical therapies, such as metronidazole or vancomycin, FMT has a high rate of treatment response with acceptable safety and efficiency. Following promulgation of the amendments in September 2018 in Taiwan, FMT has been indicated for recurrent or refractory CDI. The Taiwan Microbiota Consortium contributed to the Taiwan FMT Expert Consensus, which established basic norms and stipulated essential principles, including the indications for transplantation, eligible locations and personnel, donor screening policies, fecal sample handling, and post-FMT follow-up. However, establishing an eligible FMT team in a qualified hospital remains a clinical challenge, and the requirement for facilities and well-screened donors impedes the implementation of FMT. In this review, we aim to provide domestic FMT teams with explicit instructions to facilitate realization and increase the practice of FMT. Based on the Taiwan FMT Expert Consensus and current regulations, we performed a literature review and integrated the experiences of Taiwanese multidisciplinary experts into this article. The content intends to offer clinicians up-to-date evidence and highlight the essential points of FMT.

Risk factors for poor outcome in community-onset Clostridium difficile infection

Background

A substantial portion of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) cases occur in communities, and community-onset CDI (CO-CDI) can lead to serious complications including mortality. This study aimed to identify the risk factors for a poor outcome in CO-CDI.

Methods

We performed a retrospective review of all inpatients with CDI, in a 1300-bed tertiary-care hospital in Korea, from 2008 through 2015. CO-CDI was defined as CDI occurring within 48 h of admission. Poor outcome was defined as follows: 1) all-cause 30-day mortality, 2) in-hospital mortality, or 3) surgery due to CDI.

Results

Of a total 1256 CDIs occurring over 8 years, 152 (12.1%) cases were classified as CO-CDI and 23 (15.1%) had a poor outcome, including 22 (14.5%) cases of mortality and 2 (1.3%) cases of surgery. Patients with a poor outcome had a higher mean age than those without a poor outcome (75.8 vs. 69.6 years, p = 0.03). The proportion of men and prior proton pump inhibitor (PPI) use were significantly higher in the poor outcome group (65.2% vs. 41.9%, p = 0.04; 39.1% vs. 17.6%, p = 0.02, respectively). Multivariate binary logistic model showed that PPI use and anemia (hemoglobin < 10 g/dL) at presentation were significantly associated with a poor outcome (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 3.76; 95% confidence interval [95CI], 1.26-11.21, aOR, 4.67; 95CI, 1.52-14.34, respectively).

Conclusions

Clinicians should not only be aware of the possibility of CDI in the community setting but also pay more attention to PPI-using elderly patients with anemia in consideration of a poor outcome.

Disease Burden of Clostridium difficile Infections in Adults, Hong Kong, China, 2006-2014

Cross-sectional studies suggest an increasing trend in incidence and relatively low recurrence rates of Clostridium difficile infections in Asia than in Europe and North America. The temporal trend of C. difficile infection in Asia is not completely understood. We conducted a territory-wide population-based observational study to investigate the burden and clinical outcomes in Hong Kong, China, over a 9-year period. A total of 15,753 cases were identified, including 14,402 (91.4%) healthcare-associated cases and 817 (5.1%) community-associated cases. After adjustment for diagnostic test, we found that incidence increased from 15.41 cases/100,000 persons in 2006 to 36.31 cases/100,000 persons in 2014, an annual increase of 26%. This increase was associated with elderly patients, for whom incidence increased 3-fold over the period. Recurrence at 60 days increased from 5.7% in 2006 to 9.1% in 2014 (p<0.001). Our data suggest the need for further surveillance, especially in Asia, which contains ≈60% of the world’s population.