• Naoufel M Kaabia, Hanadi Al Basha, Dalal A Bukhari, Nabiha Bouafia, Aeshah N Al Qahtani, Ahmad M Alshahrani, Ismail M Aboushanab, and Abdulrahman N Al Odayani.
• From the Infection Control and Prevention Centre of Excellence (Kaabia, Al Basha, Bukhari, Bouafia, Al Qahtani, Aboushanab, Al Odayani), Prince Sultan Military Medical City, and from the Department of specialty? (Alshahrani), Al Maarefa University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
• Saudi Med J. 2024 Feb 1; 45 (2): 188193188-193.

ObjectivesTo determine the incidence of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) and the frequency of known risk factors.MethodsA prospective hospital-based surveillance for CDI, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria, was carried out from July 2019 to March 2022 for all inpatients aged more than one year in Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.ResultsA total of 139 cases of CDI were identified during the survey among 130 patients admitted in the hospital. Most cases were incident (n=130; 93.5%), and almost three-quarters (n=102; 73.4%) were hospital-onset (HO) CDI, with an incidence rate of 1.62 per 10,000 patient days (PD). The highest rates were noted in intensive care units with an incidence rate of 3 per 10,000 PD and wards for immunocompromised patients with an incidence rate of 2.72 per 10,000 PD. The most prevalent risk factor for CDI was acid-reducing drugs (72.6%). Vancomycin (48%) and ciprofloxacin (25%) were the most frequently prescribed antibiotics for patients with CDI. Clostridioides difficile infection complications were identified in 5.7% of the cases, with a reported 28-day mortality rate of 3.8%.ConclusionIn our hospital, HO-CDI incidence rate is lower than that in high-income countries. National multicenter surveillance is needed to evaluate the actual burden of CDI in Saudi Arabia.Copyright: © Saudi Medical Journal.

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