Top 5 Most-Read Infectious Disease Content of 2023

The top 5 most-read infectious disease articles on AJMC.com this year explored recent findings on disease states like Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI), Candida auris, and COVID-19.

Here are the 5 most-read infectious disease pieces of 2023.

Infectious disease

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5. Cesarean Delivery More Common When CDI Is Present, Study Finds

Pregnant individuals have traditionally been considered at low risk of contracting CDI, but this article published in May summarized study findings that pregnant patients with CDI are at a significantly increased risk of delivering via cesarean section. The researchers compared women who contracted CDI to a control group to better understand the infection’s impact; they found that 26.5% of pregnancies in the CDI group resulted in cesarean section deliveries compared with 10.2% in the control group.

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4. Health Care Systems Unlikely to Stop Masking Despite New Guidelines

Although the CDC altered its guidance on the control and prevention of COVID-19, this article published in April shared study findings that showed most health systems planned to continue masking. The study surveyed 34 respondents who represented health systems across the United States about the new guidelines. Of the respondents, 33 (97.1%) reported their facility was not planning to halt universal masking, mainly to prevent non-COVID-19 seasonal respiratory viruses (90.9%) and because of the effect masking had on employee staffing capacity (72.7%).

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3. C difficile, COVID-19 Coinfection Risk Greatest in Older Women

This article originally published on Contagion Live in September summarized the findings of a retrospective analysis that examined outcomes in patients with COVID-19 and CDI coinfection using the National Inpatient Sample database. Of the 1,045,125 COVID-19 hospitalizations identified, 4920 had a CDI coinfection. Older White female patients were more likely to be coinfected, and those coinfected had nearly double the length of hospital stays. Also, patients with coinfection had higher total hospital costs and saw higher inpatient mortality (21.6% vs 11%; P < .001).

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2. Dangerous Drug-Resistant Yeast Infection Rising Across the US, CDC Says

The CDC released a report in March about how Candida auris, a highly contagious fungal infection with a high mortality rate, is rising nationwide and becoming more resistant to therapy, which this article summarized. The report examined clinical cases where individuals became sick, colonization screening, and data from the CDC’s Antimicrobial Resistance Laboratory Network. It found that cases of the dangerous yeast infection rose drastically between 2019 and 2021 by multiple measures; the percentage increase in clinical cases grew each year, with a 44% increase in 2019 and a 95% increase in 2021.

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1. Vitamin D Deficiency Linked With CDI Recurrence, Study Finds

This article published in August shared results from a study suggesting that patients with vitamin D deficiency (VDD) who become infected with CDI have a higher risk of recurrence. The researchers gave several reasons for the link between VDD and higher rates of recurrence, including that vitamin D promotes the structural integrity of the intestinal lining and helps to protect the gut microbiome; therefore, those with a lack of vitamin D are more vulnerable to recurrence. For patients with VDD to reduce their reinfection risk, they suggested using vitamin D supplements during initial CDI cases.

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