All-cause mortality in hospitalized patients with infectious diarrhea: Clostridium difficile versus other enteric pathogens in Austria from 2008 to 2010

Summary Background Clostridium difficile infection is the leading cause of gastroenteritis-associated deaths in the industrialized world, followed by infection with norovirus. Methods Using a cohort study design, we compared 90 inpatients with diarrhea due to C. difficile infection (CDI) with 180 inpatients with diarrhea due to other infectious agents (including 55% with norovirus infection) with respect to complications and all-cause mortality. The effects of age, severity of underlying diseases and additional infections were assessed by stratified analyses. Results Diarrhea recurrence occurred 8.9 (95%CI: 2.9–27.3) times more often in CDI independent of age and severity of comorbidities. The all-cause mortality in CDI patients pre-discharge and at 30 and 180 days, respectively, was 20.0%, 17.0% and 42.3% versus 7.2%, 6.7% and 22.5% in non-CDI diarrhea patients. Among those patients with low comorbidities, who were younger than 65 years and without additional infections, the all-cause pre-discharge, 30-day and 180-day mortality risks were significantly higher for the CDI diarrhea patients than the non-CDI diarrhea patients. This association was not observed among patients with an older age, more severe comorbidities or additional infections. Conclusion CDI results in higher all-cause mortality than diarrhea due to other infectious agents in younger patients with low comorbidities.