The rate of Americans contracting potentially fatal Clostridium difficile bacterial infections in hospitals fell between 2011 and 2017, according to a paper published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed a roughly 24% reduction in infections between 2011 and 2017, though the number of people who died in hospitals from the infection did not seem to change significantly.
The paper credits better stewardship programs for a class of antibiotics called fluoroquinolones — the use of which has been linked to a higher risk of developing C. diff — and improved local prevention efforts like setting up infection prevention and cleaning checklists.
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