Vaccines May Serve As Prophylaxis for C. Difficile

Clostridium difficile toxoid vaccines may be effective for use as prophylaxis for C difficile infection (CDI), according to a recent review.

For their review, the researchers assessed 6 clinical trials that had evaluated the safety and/or efficacy of C difficile toxoid vaccines. Data were obtained via MEDLINE, ClinicalTrials.gov, and Web of Science.
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Results indicated that the vaccines were associated with mild self-reported adverse reactions and minimal serious adverse events. The most commonly reported adverse reactions included injection site reactions and flu-like symptoms.

The researchers noted that 5 clinical trials had demonstrated marked increases in antibody production following each dose of the vaccine among those who were vaccinated. Furthermore, the clinical trials that had studied C difficile toxoid vaccines demonstrated that these vaccines are well tolerated and relatively safe.

“Surrogate markers of efficacy (seroconversion and geometric mean antibody levels) have shown significant immune responses to a vaccination series in healthy adults, indicating that they have the potential to be used as prophylaxis for CDI,” the researchers concluded. “However, more research is needed to determine the clinical benefits of the vaccines.”

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

Henderson M, Bragg A, Fahim G, Shah M, Hermes-DeSantis ER. A review of the safety and efficacy of vaccines as prophylaxis for Clostridium difficile infections. Vaccines. 2017;5(3):25. doi:10.3390/vaccines5030025.