Clostridioides difficile infection in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia - Analysis of occurrence and genetic distribution from three intensive care units.
| Title: | Clostridioides difficile infection in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia - Analysis of occurrence and genetic distribution from three intensive care units. |
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| Authors: | Hammarskjöld F; Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, Ryhov County hospital, Jönköping, Sweden; Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden. Electronic address: fredrik.hammarskjold@liu.se.; Taxbro K; Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, Ryhov County hospital, Jönköping, Sweden; Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.; Alkemark C; Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, Ryhov County hospital, Jönköping, Sweden.; Hammarskjöld A; Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, Ryhov County hospital, Jönköping, Sweden.; Magnusson C; Department of Infectious Diseases, Ryhov County hospital, Jönköping, and Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.; Mernelius S; Laboratory Medicine, Region Jönköping County, Jönköping, and Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden. |
| Source: | Anaerobe [Anaerobe] 2026 Mar; Vol. 97, pp. 103026. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Jan 23. |
| Publication Type: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Journal Info: | Publisher: Academic Press Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 9505216 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1095-8274 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 10759964 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Anaerobe Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Publication: London : Academic Press; Original Publication: London ; San Diego : Academic Press, c1995- |
| MeSH Terms: | COVID-19*/complications ; COVID-19*/epidemiology ; Clostridium Infections*/epidemiology ; Clostridium Infections*/microbiology ; Clostridium Infections*/transmission ; Clostridioides difficile*/genetics ; Clostridioides difficile*/isolation & purification ; Clostridioides difficile*/classification; Intensive Care Units/statistics & numerical data ; Diarrhea/microbiology ; Diarrhea/epidemiology ; Humans ; Retrospective Studies ; Male ; Female ; Aged ; Middle Aged ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Whole Genome Sequencing ; Aged, 80 and over |
| Abstract: | Background: The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic challenged several of the well-known routines to prevent Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) in intensive care units (ICUs). There are limited data evaluating CDI in ICU patients with COVID-19 pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome. The objective of this study was to determine the occurrence of CDI and possible transmission of C. difficile within three ICUs in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia.; Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on all patients with confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia treated in the ICU between March 14, 2020 and July 31, 2021. All patients were assessed for the presence of diarrhoea, as well as for positive C. difficile antigen analysis. C. difficile isolates underwent high molecular weight (HMW) typing and whole genome sequencing (WGS) for the assessment of transmission.; Results: A total of 343 patients were treated in the ICUs during the study period. Diarrhoea was observed in 219 (63.8 %) patients, and 8 patients (2.3 %) were diagnosed with CDI. No evidence of transmission between patients was seen.; Conclusion: This study reveals a low occurrence of CDI in ICU patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. WGS was superior to HMW-typing in evaluating potential transmission.; (Copyright © 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.) |
| Competing Interests: | Declaration of competing Interest The authors declare no competing interests. |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Adult respiratory distress syndrome; COVID-19; Clostridioides difficile; Pneumonia |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260125 Date Completed: 20260316 Latest Revision: 20260316 |
| Update Code: | 20260317 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.anaerobe.2026.103026 |
| PMID: | 41581728 |
| Database: | MEDLINE |
Journal Article