title: Measuring the severity of Clostridium difficile infection: implications for management and drug development.
abstract: The appropriate management of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) has become a growing clinical and economic issue, as a new epidemic strain with enhanced virulence is causing increased morbidity and mortality. Presently, only two antibiotics (metronidazole and vancomycin) are routinely used to treat CDI. Both increasing disease severity and recurrent infections have been an impetus not only to develop new agents, but also to better recognize which patients are at highest risk for treatment failure and/or recurrence so that treatments can be optimized from the outset. The availability of a standardized and validated system for stratifying CDI severity could improve patient management and potentially accelerate the development of new treatment agents.
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases, Loyola University Chicago Medical Center, 2160 South First Avenue, Building 54, Room 149, Maywood, IL 60153, USA. jbelmares@lumc.edu.
authors.forename: Jaime
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Belmares
authors.forename: Dale N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Gerding
authors.forename: Glenn
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tillotson
authors.forename: Stuart
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000145:classification / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D003015:Clostridium Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000191:economics; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014774:Virulence