Outbreak of Clostridium difficile infection in a long-term care facility: association with gatifloxacin use.
To determine the cause of an increase in the rate of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD) in a long-term care facility (LTCF), we analyzed CDAD cases among LTCF patients from October 2001 through June 2002. CDAD cases were identified from review of all enzyme immunoassays positive for C. difficile toxin A. The increase coincided with a formulary change from levofloxacin to gatifloxacin. We performed a case-control study in which we randomly selected control subjects from 612 LTCF admissions during this period. Although we examined a variety of risk factors, logistic regression analysis only demonstrated associations between CDAD and use of clindamycin (P=.005) and gatifloxacin, the latter being associated with an increasing risk of CDAD with increasing duration of gatifloxacin therapy (P<.0001). We concluded that an outbreak of CDAD in an LTCF was associated with a formulary change from levofloxacin to gatifloxacin. The rate of CDAD in the LTCF decreased after a change back to levofloxacin.
Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA. rpg1@cdc.gov
Robert
R
Gaynes
David
D
Rimland
Edna
E
Killum
H Ken
HK
Lowery
Theodore M
TM
Johnson
George
G
Killgore
Fred C
FC
Tenover
D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000187:drug effects*; D003015:Clostridium Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D024841:Fluoroquinolones / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D000077734:Gatifloxacin; D006801:Humans; D064704:Levofloxacin; D008134:Long-Term Care; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D015242:Ofloxacin / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use
D024841:Fluoroquinolones; D064704:Levofloxacin; D015242:Ofloxacin; D000077734:Gatifloxacin