Clostridium difficile infection in the community: Are proton pump inhibitors to blame?

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Clostridium difficile infection in the community: Are proton pump inhibitors to blame?

World J Gastroenterol. 2013 Oct 28;19(40):6710-6713

Authors: Freedberg DE, Abrams JA

Abstract
Once a nosocomial disease, Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) now appears frequently in the community in the absence of exposure to antibiotics. Prior studies have shown that patients with community-acquired CDI are younger, more likely to be female, and have fewer comorbidities compared to patients with hospital-associated CDI. Because most studies of CDI are hospital-based, comparatively little is known about community-acquired CDI. The recent study by Chitnis has received widespread attention because it used active surveillance to capture all cases of community-acquired CDI within a large population and assessed key risk factors. The authors found that low-level healthcare exposure and proton pump inhibitor use were common among those with non-antibiotics associated, community-acquired CDI. In this commentary, we discuss the changing epidemiology of community-acquired CDI and the evidence basis for the controversial association between proton pump inhibitors and community-acquired CDI.

PMID: 24187445 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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