![21 Alert](https://microbiome.ferring.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/21-1.png)
A major and urgent threat, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), C. difficile infection is one of the most common healthcare-associated infections in US hospitals, affecting approximately half a million people annually.1,2
Significant complications
associated with C. difficile infection
![65 Sepsis](https://microbiome.ferring.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/65.png)
SEPSIS
27%3,a
aFirst recurrence.
![64 Colectomy](https://microbiome.ferring.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/64.png)
Colectomy
7%3,a
aFirst recurrence.
![63 Heart failure](https://microbiome.ferring.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/63.png)
Heart Failure
43%4
![66 Subsequent recurrence](https://microbiome.ferring.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/66.png)
Subsequent Recurrence
up to60%5
![61 Anxiety](https://microbiome.ferring.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/61.png)
Anxiety
13.9%6
![60 PTSD](https://microbiome.ferring.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/60.png)
Ptsd
0.3%6
![62 Depression](https://microbiome.ferring.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/62.png)
Depression
15.3%6
![Mortality associated top left](https://microbiome.ferring.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/68.png)
![Mortality associated top right](https://microbiome.ferring.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/73.png)
![29 Mortality](https://microbiome.ferring.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/29-1.png)
Mortality associated with C. difficile infection:
30-day mortality rate of C. difficile infection ranges from 5% to 14% after an initial episode.2,7
A study of Medicare patients with community-acquired C. difficile infection documented a 9% mortality rate during inpatient stay.8
In a recent CDC reseach letter, patients (N=9) with severe-acute-respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (COVID-19) and C. difficile infection had a 44% mortality rate.9
Unfortunately, C. difficile infection may be the beginning of a vicious cycle of recurrence.
![Mortality associated bottom left](https://microbiome.ferring.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/69.png)
![Mortality associated bottom center](https://microbiome.ferring.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/71.png)
![Mortality associated bottom right](https://microbiome.ferring.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/70.png)