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Changing diagnostic criteria during the past decade have made local patterns in Clostridioides difficile infections difficult to interpret ― and nationwide patterns even more so. CDC researchers used a uniform case definition to identify and characterize cases drawn from a 35-county sample in 10 states (total population, ≈2 million).
Between 2011 and 2017, the annual number of cases remained stable in the sample, and the estimated nationwide burden of disease was calculated at about half a million cases annually. The fraction of these cases associated with healthcare settings (including chronic care facilities) fell by about 20% (from 306,000 to 236,000) during the study period, and the fraction associated with community acquisition correspo…