American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Series: #5—Management of Clostridioides difficile Infection in Hematopoietic Cell Transplant Recipients
Carolyn D. Alonso, Gabriela Marón, Mini Kamboj, Paul A. Carpenter, Arun Gurunathan, Kathleen M. Mullane, Erik R. Dubberke
Abstract
The Practice Guidelines Committee of the American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy partnered with its Transplant Infectious Disease Special Interest Group to update its 2009 compendium-style infectious disease guidelines for hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). A completely new approach was taken with the goal of better serving clinical providers by publishing each standalone topic in the infectious disease series as a concise format of frequently asked questions (FAQ), tables, and figures. Adult and pediatric infectious disease and HCT content experts developed and then answered FAQs and finalized topics with harmonized recommendations that were made by assigning an A through E strength of recommendation paired with a level of supporting evidence graded I through III. This fifth guideline in the series focuses on Clostridioides difficile infection with FAQs that address the prevalence, incidence, clinical features, colonization versus infection, clinical complications, diagnostic considerations, pharmacological therapies for episodic or recurrent infection, and the roles of prophylactic antibiotics, probiotics, and fecal microbiota transplantation.