Did the severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 pandemic cause an endemic Clostridium difficile infection?

Table 1 Baseline characteristics of the study groups, n (%)

Parameter	Past history COVID-19	Non-COVID-19	P
	n = 76	n = 371
Age in yr, mean ± SD	62.6 ± 14.6	56.8 ± 17.6	0.007
Male	35 (46.1)	208 (56.1)	0.110
Country side	18 (23.7)	170 (45.8)	< 0.001
Hospitalization days, mean ± SD	8 (5)	9 (7)	0.094
Alcohol consumption	33 (43.4)	109 (29.4)	0.017
AB during hospitalization	29 (38.2)	154 (41.5)	0.588
Previous AB treatment	46 (60.5)	132 (35.5)	< 0.001
Comorbidities	65 (85.5)	348 (93.8)	0.013
Liver cirrhosis	17 (22.4)	158 (42.6)	0.001
IBD	3 (3.9)	31 (8.4)	0.187
DM	0	16 (4.3)	0.065
Malignancies	8 (10.5)	50 (13.5)	0.486
CKD	5 (6.6)	30 (8.1)	0.656
Previous hospitalizations	62 (81.6)	204 (54.9)	< 0.001
Recurrence	19 (25.0)	50 (13.1)	0.011
Leukocytes, mean ± SD	11320 (8843)	11560 (6650)	0.203
CRP, mean ± SD	2.53 (10.3)	2.52 (10.4)	0.103
Death	5 (6.6)	26 (7.0)	0.893

AB: Antibiotics; CKD: Chronic kidney disease; COVID-19: Coronavirus disease 2019; CRP: C-reactive protein; DM: Diabetes mellitus; IBD: Inflammatory bowel disease; SD: Standard deviation.

Table 2 Risk factors for Clostridium difficile infection after coronavirus disease 2019

	Univariate analysis			Multivariate analysis
Parameter	OR	CI	P	OR	CI	P
Age > 60 yr	2.321	1.455-3.703	< 0.001	2.591	1.452-4.624	0.001
Urban area	1.935	1.273-2.940	0.001	2.330	1.286-4.221	0.005
Previous AB treatments	1.632	1.223-2.178	<0.001	1.909	1.083-3.365	0.025
Previous hospitalizations	2.444	1.503-3.947	< 0.001	2.509	1.263-4.986	0.009
Alcohol consumption	1.248	1.014-1.536	0.017	2.550	1.459-4.459	0.001

AB: Antibiotics; CI: Confidence interval; OR: Odds ratio.