title: Clostridium difficile infection following chemotherapy.
abstract: Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is a major concern for health care system and clinicians. Interest in C. difficile infection has increased recently due to an ongoing C. difficile epidemic with a hypervirulent strain and mortality. Disease due to C. difficile is responsible for substantial strain on the hospital system by increasing patients' length of stayand increasing costs. Present studies have demonstrated chemotherapeutic agents as an independent risk factor for CDI potentially leading towards serious morbidity and mortality. However, the current strategies lack randomized trials on management in chemotherapy-associated CDI. The changing face of the disease, emergence of more resistant strains, and the rising cancer incidence have heightened the need for identification of risk factors, rapid diagnosis including prompt identification of toxins, and management algorithms. This review focuses on recent insights on the epidemiology, diagnosis, current management, recent patents, and advances on treating strategies of CDI with reference to current studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center, New York, NY 11212 USA. razashahzad2@gmail.com
authors.forename: Shahzad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Raza
authors.forename: Mahadi A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Baig
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Russell
authors.forename: Yanick
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gourdet
authors.forename: Barbara J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Berger
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D019091:Critical Pathways; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D015507:Drugs, Investigational / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004761:Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012307:Risk Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D015507:Drugs, Investigational