IDSA: 216,311 U.S. Deaths Associated With C. Diff Infection ID”d in 1999 to 2023

TUESDAY, Oct. 21, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Temporal trends in Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) deaths have been described in a study presented at the annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDWeek), held from Oct. 19 to 22 in Atlanta.

Muhammad Sohaib Asghar, M.B.B.S., M.D., from AdventHealth Sebring in Florida, and colleagues examined temporal trends in CDI-related mortality across the United States from 1999 to 2023. Data were included for U.S. residents of any age from all 50 states who died due to CDI.

During the study period, there were 216,311 deaths associated with CDI. The researchers found that 58.1 and 41.9 percent of deaths occurred in females and males, respectively; 83.9, 8.12, 5.53, and 2.22 percent were White, Black/African American, Hispanic, and belonged to other racial groups, respectively. Overall, 33 percent of the deaths occurred in the South, while 24.4, 22.2, and 20.3 percent occurred in the Midwest, Northeast, and West regions, respectively. Most deaths occurred in metropolitan areas (83.8 percent), and 16.2 percent occurred in nonmetropolitan areas. A total of 71.2 percent of deaths occurred among inpatients in medical facilities, 5.5 percent occurred at the decedent”s home, and 15.03 percent occurred in nursing home/long-term care facilities.

“C. diff”s prevalence in health care settings flips the usual dynamics of privilege: Those who can afford more access to health care are more likely to die from infection,” Asghar said in a statement. “The United States must double down on progress made in lowering C. diff-related deaths by promoting responsible antibiotic use — particularly in health care settings — to address disparities.”

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