AUTHOR=Buonsenso Danilo , Graffeo Rosalia , Pata Davide , Valentini Piero , Palumbo Carla , Masucci Luca , Ruggiero Antonio , Attinà Giorgio , Onori Manuela , Lancella Laura , Lucignano Barbara , Giuseppe Martina Di , Bernaschi Paola , Cursi Laura 

TITLE=Clostridioides difficile Infection in Children: A 5-Year Multicenter Retrospective Study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pediatrics

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pediatrics/articles/10.3389/fped.2022.783098

DOI=10.3389/fped.2022.783098

ISSN=2296-2360

ABSTRACT=<p>While there are numerous studies regarding <italic>Clostridioides difficile</italic> infection (CDI) in adults, literature on the pediatric population is scarce. Therefore, we performed a 5-year retrospective study between January 2014 and December 2018 in two referral centers in Rome, Italy. There were 359 patients tested for CDI who were enrolled: 87 resulted in positive and 272 in negative. CDI children had a higher number of previous-day hospital admissions (<italic>p</italic> = 0.024), hospitalizations (<italic>p</italic> = 0.001), and total hospital admissions (<italic>p</italic> = 0.008). Chronic comorbidities were more frequent in the CDI group (66.7% vs. 33.3%). Previous use of proton pump inhibitors and antibiotics was associated with CDI (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001). Among the antibiotics, only fluoroquinolones were significantly associated with CDI. Also, CDI children were more frequently exposed to antibiotics during the episode of hospitalization when children were tested. Our study provides an updated clinical and epidemiological analysis of children with CDI compared with a control group of children who tested negative. Further prospective studies could better define risk factors and preventive methods.</p>