Epidemiology of Clostridium difficile infection in Belgium: Report 2016

Key points
The key points from data available in 2015 are:

• Participation of Belgian hospitals in CDI surveillance has remained high despite the fact that it was no longer compulsory
• The mean incidence of CDI in Belgian hospitals (1.87/1000 admissions) is the highest reported since 2009.
• The increase in HA-CDI incidence was marked in Flanders. The differences between regions are now negligible.
• The severity of the disease has not changed in recent years.
• There is a high diversity of circulating Clostridium difficile strains in Belgium, pointing to a large diversity of sources of transmission. The hypervirulent strain BR078 (UCL 3) was found in 42% of the hospitals (25% in 2014).
• Preliminary results from the 2015 CDI transmission study point to a relatively low proportion of HA-CDI episodes in Belgian hospitals that can be attributable to in-hospital transmission from CDI symptomatic cases.
• Differences in surveillance methods of CDI reported in European countries make comparisons difficult.