Photo Credit: Md Babul Hosen

Cure rates associated with vancomycin for Clostridioides difficile infection have declined from nearly 100% in the early 2000s to 70% in recent years, according to results published in Clinical Infectious Diseases. Kevin W. Garey, PharmD, MS, BCIDP, and colleagues examined data from a multicenter study that tracked levels of resistance to vancomycin in 300 samples of C. difficile bacteria from adults treated between 2016 and 2021. Overall, 34% of C. difficile samples tested exhibited reduced susceptibility to vancomycin. This weakening was associated with lower 30-day sustained clinical response and lower 14-day initial cure rates, according to the study’s senior author. “It’s an alarming development in the field of C. difficile, as there are only two recommended antibiotics,” Dr. Garey said in a news release. “If antimicrobial resistance increases in both antibiotics, it will complicate the management of C. difficile infection, leading us back to a pre-antibiotic era.”