Antidepressant use linked to C. Dificile infections

Certain types of anti-depressants have been linked to an increase in the risk of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) finds a study in BMC Medicine. Awareness of this link should improve identification and early treatment of CDI.

CDI is one of the most common hospital acquired infections and is responsible for more than 7000 deaths annually in the USA alone. Several types of medications are thought to increase risk of CDI, including anti-depressants. 

Given that depression is the third most common medical condition worldwide, the team studied Clostridium difficile infection in people with and without depression and found that people with major depression had a much higher chance of CDI (a 36% increase) than people without depression. This association held for a variety of depressive disorders and nervous or psychiatric problems. Age and family support also impacted risk of CDI. Older, widowed Americans were 54% more likely to catch C. difficile than their married peers. Just living alone increased risk by 25%.
 
The researchers stress that it is not yet known whether the increase in CDI is due to microbial changes in the gut during depression or to the medications associated with depression.