Not So Nosocomial Anymore: The Growing Threat of Community-Acquired Clostridium difficile

Clostridium difficile infection is widely accepted to be the leading cause of nosocomial infection-related morbidity and mortality, outpacing both antibiotic-resistant staphylococcus and enterococcus. The existence and prevalence of community-acquired Clostridium difficile infection, on the other hand, is much less well appreciated. Growing evidence now suggests that community-acquired Clostridium difficile infection may account for more than a third of Clostridium difficile associated diarrhea overall. Similar to nosocomial Clostridium difficile infection, community-acquired cases appear to be increasing in incidence, and although associated mortality is lower than in nosocomial cases, morbidity including hospitalization and recurrence are high. Further, traditional risk factors for Clostridium difficile infection including antibiotic exposure appear to be less important in community-acquired cases and common routes of exposure and infection in the community are yet to be elucidated. In this issue of the American Journal of Gastroenterology, Khanna et al. provide important epidemiological data on the growing threat of community-acquired Clostridium difficile infection.