In a longitudinal cohort study, researchers aimed to examine temporal changes in the incidence of toxigenic Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) colonization in pediatric patients aged 2 years or less. In the prenatal stage, pregnant mothers were enrolled in the study, with serial stool samples being taken from their children for up to 2 years. A total of 2608 samples were collected from 817 children. Toxigenic C. diff was located in 1% of meconium samples, 19% of 2 month, 37% of 6 month, 40% of 12 month, and 8% of 24 month samples. Those who were receiving breast milk at 6 months were less likely to be carriers at 2 months, 6 months, and 12 months compared with those not receiving it.
Reference: Mani J, Levy S, Angelova A, et al. Epidemiological and microbiome associations of Clostridioides difficile carriage in infancy and early childhood. Gut Microbes. 2023;15(1):2203969. doi:10.1080/19490976.2023.2203969
