Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34495497›Full record

ArticleInfection2021

An emergent infectious disease: Clostridioides difficile infection hospitalizations, 10-year trend in Sicily.

Alice Annalisa Medaglia, Sergio Buffa, Claudia Gioè, Silvia Bonura, Raffaella Rubino, Chiara Iaria, Claudia Colomba, Antonio Cascio

Erratum issuedOpen access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Infection, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 39% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Burden ofAntibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025
    Article
  3. Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024
    Article
  4. Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023
    Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Alice Annalisa MedagliaInfectious and Tropical Disease Unit, AOU Policlinico "P. Giaccone", Palermo, Italy. alicemedaglia@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5074-070X
Sergio BuffaDipartimento per le Attività Sanitarie e Osservatorio Epidemiologico (DASOE), Palermo, Italy.
Claudia GioèInfectious and Tropical Disease Unit, AOU Policlinico "P. Giaccone", Palermo, Italy.
Silvia BonuraInfectious and Tropical Disease Unit, AOU Policlinico "P. Giaccone", Palermo, Italy.
Raffaella RubinoInfectious and Tropical Disease Unit, AOU Policlinico "P. Giaccone", Palermo, Italy.
Chiara IariaInfectious Diseases Unit, ARNAS Civico, Palermo, Italy.
Claudia ColombaInfectious and Tropical Disease Unit, AOU Policlinico "P. Giaccone", Palermo, Italy.
Antonio CascioInfectious and Tropical Disease Unit, AOU Policlinico "P. Giaccone", Palermo, Italy. antonio.cascio03@unipa.it.
Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Policlinico "Paolo Giaccone" di Palermo · ITDepartment of Health · ES

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundClostridioides difficile is the most common cause of healthcare-associated diarrhoea worldwide and C. difficile infection is an emerging infectious disease. In the US, its rates are monitored trough an active surveillance system, but many European Union member states still lack this, and in Italy no epidemiological data on C. difficile infection are available except for a few single-centre data.

aimTo provide data on the C. difficile infection incidence in Sicily (the biggest and 5th most populous region of Italy) during a 10-year period.

methodsWe revised all the regional standardized discharge forms between 2009 and June 2019 using the code ICD-9 00845 of the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision Clinical Modification, which refers to C. difficile infection with or without complications.

results1139 cases of CDI were identified. 97% were adults with a median age of 73.2 years and a male-to-female ratio of 1:1.4. Female patients were older than males and patients who died were older than patients who did not. The main comorbidities were renal disease, diabetes, pneumonia and hypertension. There were 65 reporting hospitals and 86% of cases were provided by level III and II hospitals. Between 2009 and 2019, the incidence increased 40-fold. 81.5% of cases were reported in Medicine Units, Infectious Diseases Units and long-term care facilities. The mean length of stay was 20 days. Mean case fatality rate was 8.3% over the 10-year period.

conclusionClostridioides difficile infection is a dramatically increasing condition in Sicily. A high-quality surveillance system and shared diagnostic protocols are needed.

Indexed as

Clostridioides difficileClostridium InfectionsCommunicable DiseasesCross InfectionAdultAgedClostridioidesFemaleHospitalizationHumansMaleSicilyClostridioides difficile infectionHealth care-associated diarrhoeaSurveillance of C. difficile

Identifiers

PMID34495497
PMCPMC8613107
OpenAlexW3198425393

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.