Epidemiology and recurrence rates of Clostridium difficile infections in Germany

• Main Authors: Lübbert, Christoph, Zimmermann, Lisa, Borchert, Julia, Hörner, Bernd, Mutters, Reinier, Rodloff, Arne C.
• Other Authors: Universität Leipzig, Medizinische Fakultät
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig 2016
• Subjects: bakterielle Infektion; Clostridium difficile; Deutschland; bacterial infection; Germany; ddc:601
• Online Access: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:15-qucosa-213878; http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:15-qucosa-213878; http://www.qucosa.de/fileadmin/data/qucosa/documents/21387/OAP-2016-172_L%C3%BCbbert_OM_CDI_Inf_Dis_Ther_2016.pdf

Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is the most common cause of health-care-associated infectious diarrhea. Recurrence rates are as high as 20–30% after standard treatment with metronidazole or vancomycin, and appear to be reduced for patients treated with fidaxomicin. According to the literature, the risk of CDI recurrence increases after the second relapse to 30–65%. Accurate data for Germany are not yet available. Methods: Based on the research database of arvato health analytics (Munich, Germany), a secondary data analysis for the incidence, treatment characteristics and course of CDI was performed. The database included high granular accounting information of about 1.46 million medically insured patients covering the period 2006–2013, being representative for Germany. The analysis was based on new-onset CDI in 2012 in patients which either received outpatient antibiotic therapy for CDI or were hospitalized. Results: The ICD-10 coded incidence of CDI in 2012 was 83 cases per 100,000 population.