According to a study published in the American Journal of Infection Control, doxycycline is associated with a reduced risk of Clostridiodes difficle infection for patients with CPAP (community-acquired pneumonia).
A retrospective analysis was done on hospitalized patients in Veterans Affairs hospitals across the US. Ashley L. O’Leary, Pharm.D., from the Veterans Affairs Western New York Healthcare System in Buffalo, and colleagues did a retrospective study to examine if there is an association between doxycycline and reduced CDI risk.
Approximately 156,107 hospitalised individuals were diagnosed with CAP and received care at a Veterans Affairs Hospital during the study period. The researchers discovered that when doxycycline was used with ceftriaxone to treat pneumonia. It was associated with a 17% lower risk of CDI when compared to azithromycin. Patients with a history of CDI had a 45 percent lower incidence of CDI (odds ratio, 0.55).
Senior author Kari A. Mergenhagen said,
Our analysis found that in patients with a prior history of C. diff, doxycycline was the only factor associated with a reduction in the incidence of new C. diff infections,
These results suggest that in cases where Legionella pneumonia can be ruled out prior to treatment, patients at increased risk of C. diff may benefit from the use of doxycycline as a first-line agent.
