Early CDC assessments of 2011-2014 data suggest Clostridium difficile infections are on the decline, according to NPR.
If confirmed, the downtrend would mark a change of course as C. diff rates climbed each year from 2000 to 2010.
"Preliminary analyses suggest a 9 to 15 percent decrease in healthcare [C. diff] incidence nationally," Alice Guh, MD, medical officer in the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion with the CDC, told NPR. "We are moving in the right direction."
Symptoms related to a C. diff infection can range from diarrhea to life-threatening colon inflammation. Elderly patients with a history of antibiotic use are the most at risk for infection. Approximately 29,000 people died within the first 30 days of C. diff diagnosis in 2011, according to the CDC.
Recent research suggests antibiotic stewardship may be highly effective in lowering the rates of C. diff infections among hospital patients. These programs, along with more thorough healthcare cleaning standards, are likely facilitating the decline in C. diff, according to NPR.
The final C. diff numbers for 2011-2014 won't be released until later this year, according to an article published in The New York Times in February.
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