Latest Research on Clostridioides difficile

Dear Colleagues,

The pathology of diseases caused by Clostridioides difficile (CD) has been augmented over time by changing population dynamics, healthcare, and agriculture practices and the varied genetics of the organism. Among these changes are the introduction of broad-spectrum antibiotics; the emergence of an outbreak-related strain, NAP1/027; and the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, improved infection control methods decreased the incidence of hospital-acquired CD infection (CDI) but research on the biology, epidemiology, and treatment of CDI stagnated.

Recently, there has been renewed interest in previously developed methods of controlling this infection, including therapy with fecal microbiota transplants; using a mix of beneficial bacteria, therapeutic proteins, antibiotics; and the development of toxoid-based vaccines. The efficiency of these methods and newly developed approaches is also continually affected by the changing characteristics of CDI; its features have changed due to the replacement of hospital-acquired infections with community-acquired cases and more efficient infection control in hospitals.

This Special Issue aims to present new information on various aspects of this pathogen: its biology, the pathology of the disease, existing methods of detection, epidemiology, treatment options and approaches, and the healthcare costs of the disease.

As the Guest Editor of this Special Issue, I invite you to submit research articles, reviews, and short communications related to Clostridioides difficile.

Prof. Dr. George Broukhanski
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Microorganisms is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• Clostridioides difficile
• biology
• epidemiology
• pathogenicity
• detection
• treatment
• infection control