Antibiotic Resistance Profile of RT 027/176 Versus Other Clostridioides difficile Isolates in Silesia, Southern Poland

Clostridioides difficile is an important health care-associated pathogen. The aim of this study was to analyze the antibiotic susceptibility of C. difficile isolates from feces of patients from 13 hospitals in Silesia, Poland. The incidence of CDI per 100.000 people in Silesia in 2018-2019 was higher than the average in Poland (39.3-38.7 vs. 30.2-29.5, respectively). The incidence doubled from 26.4 in 2020 to 55.1 in 2021. Two hundred and thirty stool samples tested positive for GDH (glutamate dehydrogenase) and toxins were cultured anaerobically for C. difficile. The isolates were characterized, typed, and tested for susceptibility to 11 antibiotics by E-test (EUCAST, 2021). The genes of toxins A/B and binary were detected by mPCR. Of 215 isolates, 166 (77.2%) were classified as RT 027 and 6 (2.8%) as related RT 176. Resistance to ciprofloxacin (96.7%), moxifloxacin (79.1%), imipenem (78.1%), penicillin (67%), and rifampicin (40.5%) was found. The ermB gene was detected in 79 (36.7%) strains. Multidrug resistance (MDR) was confirmed in 50 (23.3%) strains of RT 027 (94%). We concluded that a high prevalence of MDR among hypervirulent RT 027/176 C. difficile was found in the Silesian region of Poland, emphasizing the need to enhance regional infection control on CDI and antibiotic stewardships.