Rising Case Rate and Mortality Documented for C. difficile Colitis
MINNEAPOLIS -- The frequency and severity of Clostridium difficile colitis in hospitalized patients have increased dramatically since the early 1990s, leading to greater morbidity and mortality, investigators here reported.
MINNEAPOLIS, July 16 -- The frequency and severity of Clostridium difficile colitis in hospitalized patients have increased dramatically since the early 1990s, leading to greater morbidity and mortality, investigators here reported.
From 1993 through 2003 the number of reported cases of C. difficile colitis in hospitalized patients doubled, associated mortality increased by 150%, and the number of colectomies attributable to the infection increased by 50%, according to an article in the July issue of Archives of Surgery.
Frequency and mortality increased every calendar year (P
Total mortality increased from 20.3 per 100,000 cases in 1993 to 50.2 per 100,000 in 2003 (P
