The largest scale study in Europe of the prevalence of a potentially fatal disease known as Clostridium difficile Infection (CDI) has just begun.

The European, multi-centre, prospective bi-annual point prevalence study of Clostridium difficile Infection in hospitalized patients with Diarrhea (EUCLID) will allow professionals to accurately measure the true rate of CDI.

CDI is a life-threatening illness that occurs when the internal lining of the colon is infected with the bacterium C. difficle. The toxins that this bacteria produce can lead to serious inflammation of the colon and cause diarrhea. Those who are 65 years or older are at a higher risk of having the disease.

In developed nations, CDI is the main source of infectious diarrhea. The infection is a major cause of morbidity and even death in some instances, killing an estimated one in 50. It also incurs huge economic costs, especially since those infected with CDI stay in a hospital for an additional 1-3 weeks more than normal, amounting to an extra cost of €7,147 (Euros) per patient.

A previous study carried out in Spain in 2008 revealed that almost two thirds of cases of CDI were either misdiagnosed or not picked up at all, indicating very low clinical awareness of CDI within the hospitals.

The EUCLID study, sponsored and funded by Astellas Pharma Europe Ltd and endorsed by the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases study group for Clostridium difficile (ESGCD), aims to find out how common CDI is among patients hospitalized with diarrhea in 20 countries and 500 hospitals all over Europe. It should give an accurate picture of the under-diagnosis and under-testing there is in each country.

According to Dr Ed Kuijper, Chairman of the ESCMID study group for Clostridium dificile:

“This study represents an important step forward in understanding the true incidence of CDI and will provide us with much needed information about the epidemiology of a debilitating disease in Europe,”

The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust will be coordinating the study under Professor Mark Wilcox. Hospitals from each of the 20 countries will have to send samples of all un-formed feces to a coordinating laboratory on a specific day – at the lab, any cases of CDI will be detected. This will occur at two different times of the year to account for seasonal variations.

In addition, data will be collected on diagnostic tests within the hospital for the samples sent and the results of the tests which will help reveal the true extent of under-diagnosis of CDI.