To assess Connecticut medical providers’ concordance (2018–2019) with the 2017 Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) treatment update by the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA). The effect of guideline concordance on CDI recurrence risk was also assessed.

Prospective, population-based study.

New Haven County, Connecticut, from January 1, 2017, to December 31, 2019.

CDI incident case (no positive tests in the prior 8 weeks), not limited by care setting.

Using data from the Emerging Infections Program’s CDI surveillance, severity and concordance were defined. Presence of megacolon and/or ileus defined fulminant disease; absence defined nonsevere/severe disease. Using 2017 treatment as baseline, 2018–2019 concordance was defined as receiving the recommended first-line antibiotic (ie, vancomycin or fidaxomicin for adult patients, vancomycin or metronidazole for pediatric patients) for exactly 10 days. For all analyses, significance was P < .05.

Among 990 cases, concordance increased from 24.8% in 2018 to 37.0% in 2019. First-line antibiotic concordance increased from 61.2% in 2018 to 79.9% in 2019. Recurrence risk was significantly associated with patients aged ≥65 years and was highest for those aged 75–84 years, but this factor was not significantly associated with concordance.

From 2018 through 2019, CDI treatment in New Haven County increasingly was concordant with the 2017 treatment update but remained low in 2019. Although concordance with treatment guidelines did not affect recurrence risk, close attention should be paid by medical providers to patients aged ≥65 years, specifically those aged 75–84 years because they are at an increased risk for recurrence.

To describe the epidemiology of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) carriage and acquisition among hospitalized patients in an area of CRE endemicity.

Cohort study with a nested case-control study.

Two acute care, academic hospitals in New York City.

All patients admitted to 7 study units, including intensive care, medical-surgical, and acute rehabilitation units.

Perianal samples were collected from patients at admission and weekly thereafter to detect asymptomatic gastrointestinal carriage of CRE. A nested case-control study was performed to identify factors associated with CRE acquisition. Case patients were those who acquired CRE during a single hospitalization. Control subjects had no microbiologic evidence of CRE and at least 1 negative surveillance sample. Clinical data were abstracted from the medical record.

The prevalence of CRE in the study population was 5.4% (306 of 5,676 patients), and 104 patients met the case definition of acquisition during a single hospital stay. Mechanical ventilation (odds ratio [OR], 11.5), pulmonary disease (OR, 5.2), days of antibiotic therapy (OR, 1.04), and CRE colonization pressure (OR, 1.15) were independently associated with CRE acquisition. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis identified 87% of tested Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates as sharing related patterns (greater than 78% similarity), which suggests clonal transmission within and between the study hospitals.

Critical illness and underlying medical conditions, CRE colonization pressure, and antimicrobial exposure are important risk factors for CRE acquisition. Adherence to infection control practices and antimicrobial stewardship appear to be critical components of a CRE control program.