Emergency Medicine PharmD - February 19, 2018
By Mixon T - Peer reviewed by: Cocchio C & Dietrich S
"The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) convened a group of experts to publish an update to their 2010 C.difficile infection (CDI) guidelines. Below is a summary of the new guidelines from the perspective of an emergency medicine (EM) pharmacist...
Take Home Points
- IDSA/SHEA have released new CDI guidelines.
- Emergency medicine pharmacists should play a huge role in antimicrobial stewardship, which is a key component in minimizing the occurrence of CDI.
- Vancomycin PO or fidaxomicin are now the recommended first line agents for CDI, however, the high cost associated with these therapies may prohibit their use in some patients.
- Metronidazole should only be considered when vancomycin PO or fidaxomicin are unavailable for adults. It is still a first line option for children.
- Vancomycin PO therapy may be extended in patients with active CDI, or used prophylactically in patients with previous CDI episodes to prevent recurrent infection while on systemic antibiotics.
- FIRVANQTM, a new oral liquid vancomycin formation, will soon be available, but cost information is currently unknown."