Facilitywide use of four antibiotic classes is linked to a higher risk of Clostridium difficile infections, according to a study published in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.
For the study, researchers analyzed 2016-17 data on high-risk antibiotic use and C. difficile incidence at 171 hospitals using the BD Insights Research Database. They looked at four classes of antibiotics that are believed to increase the risk of C. difficile:
- Cephalosporins
- Fluoroquinolones
- Carbapenems
- Lincosamides
The median days of therapy for these antibiotics was 241.2 per 1,000 days. The overall hospital-associated C. difficile rate was 33 per 10,000 admissions.
Researchers found that every 100 days of hospitalwide high-risk antibiotic use was linked to a 12 percent increase in hospital-associated C. difficile infections. When researchers looked at each antibiotic separately, only cephalosporins showed a significant link to C. difficile infections.
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