Prevention of Infection due to Clostridium (Clostridioides) difficile

Abstract

Clostridium (Clostridioides) difficile infection (CDI) causes significant morbidity and mortality in the United States every year. Prevention of CDI is difficult because of spore durability and requires implementation of multipronged strategies. Two categories of prevention strategies are infection control and prevention and risk factor reduction. Hand hygiene, contact precautions, patient isolation, and environmental decontamination are cornerstones of infection control and prevention. Risk factor reduction should focus on antibiotic stewardship to reduce unnecessary antibiotic use. If CDI incidence remains higher than the institution's goal despite these measures, then special measures should be considered.

Keywords: Antibiotic stewardship; Clostridium (Clostridioides) difficile; Contact precautions; Diagnostic stewardship; Environmental decontamination; Hand hygiene; Infection control; Prevention.