Nosocomial Infection with Clostridium Difficile: Analysis of the Hospitalization Indicators in a Level II B Hospital in Romania

Abstract

The frequency of Clostridium difficile nosocomial infections (CDI) is on the rise and analyses of patient outcomes and hospitalization costs yield constantly changing results. It is difficult to assess the impact of CDI on hospital admission statistics, including costs, due to certain confounding factors such as the severity of the underlying disease, the overlap between the underlying disease and the CDI, and the contribution of the risk factors to the onset of CDI. The present study shows that longer hospital stays for Clostridium difficile infected patients are due mainly to the serious underlying disease, and to a lesser extent to the CDI and that these longer hospital stays are usually seen on surgical wards. Even though the contribution of the CDI to the extended hospital stay is modest, it can be further reduced through early detection of the onset of infection.