Open Access

Impact of COVID‑19 prevention measures on Clostridioides difficile infections in a regional acute care hospital

  • Authors:
    • Simona Sipos
    • Cristian Vlad
    • Radu Prejbeanu
    • Horia Haragus
    • Daliborca Vlad
    • Horia Cristian
    • Cristian Dumitrascu
    • Roxana Popescu
    • Victor Dumitrascu
    • Vlad Predescu
  • View Affiliations

  • Published online on: August 26, 2021     https://doi.org/10.3892/etm.2021.10649
  • Article Number: 1215
  • Copyright: © Sipos et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) is a common cause of nosocomial diarrhea. The multi‑modal infection control strategies designed to contain the COVID‑19 pandemic have had an unintended positive effect on other hospital‑acquired infections. The aim of the present study was to analyze the impact of the COVID‑19 prevention measures on healthcare‑associated C. difficile infections in a large regional acute care center. Electronic databases were reviewed from the start of the pandemic (March) up to November 2020. Average values from the same months from 2019 and 2018 were used as controls. Using the ICD‑10 discharge coding, 65 C. difficile cases per 25,124 patients were identified in 2020 compared to 151/43,126 from the 2018 and 2019 averages (P=0.0484). The C. difficile cases were found to be decreased after the implementation of COVID‑19 infection control strategies compared to previous years, despite an increase in antibiotic use. Subset analysis during lockdown showed a clear decrease but the difference was not statistically significant. For the months of recovery after lockdown, the number of cases was comparable to previous years.
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November-2021
Volume 22 Issue 5

Print ISSN: 1792-0981
Online ISSN:1792-1015

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Spandidos Publications style
Sipos S, Vlad C, Prejbeanu R, Haragus H, Vlad D, Cristian H, Dumitrascu C, Popescu R, Dumitrascu V, Predescu V, Predescu V, et al: Impact of COVID‑19 prevention measures on <em>Clostridioides difficile</em> infections in a regional acute care hospital. Exp Ther Med 22: 1215, 2021
APA
Sipos, S., Vlad, C., Prejbeanu, R., Haragus, H., Vlad, D., Cristian, H. ... Predescu, V. (2021). Impact of COVID‑19 prevention measures on <em>Clostridioides difficile</em> infections in a regional acute care hospital. Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine, 22, 1215. https://doi.org/10.3892/etm.2021.10649
MLA
Sipos, S., Vlad, C., Prejbeanu, R., Haragus, H., Vlad, D., Cristian, H., Dumitrascu, C., Popescu, R., Dumitrascu, V., Predescu, V."Impact of COVID‑19 prevention measures on <em>Clostridioides difficile</em> infections in a regional acute care hospital". Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine 22.5 (2021): 1215.
Chicago
Sipos, S., Vlad, C., Prejbeanu, R., Haragus, H., Vlad, D., Cristian, H., Dumitrascu, C., Popescu, R., Dumitrascu, V., Predescu, V."Impact of COVID‑19 prevention measures on <em>Clostridioides difficile</em> infections in a regional acute care hospital". Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine 22, no. 5 (2021): 1215. https://doi.org/10.3892/etm.2021.10649