Initial Vancomycin Taper for the Prevention of Recurrent Clostridium Difficile Infection

Summary

The first line therapy for an initial episode of CDI (Clostridium difficile infection) is 10-14 days of oral vancomycin which is now recommended over metronidazole in the 2018 guidelines from the Association of Medical Microbiologists and Infectious Diseases of Canada (AMMI). Although response rates for the treatment of a first episode of CDI now approach 90%, approximately 25% of patients who have a complete response will develop recurrence (rCDI) within 8 weeks. Doctors' ability to predict recurrence is evolving, but remains very limited. The investigators hypothesize that by extending initial vancomycin therapy with a 2-week tapering regimen this will reduce the risk of rCDI. Starting at the end of the initial 14 days of therapy, participants will be randomized to receive an additional 14-days of placebo or vancomycin taper (125 mg orally twice daily x 7 days followed by 125 mg orally once daily x 7 days). This taper was chosen as it represents two steps of a commonly used 4-week vancomycin taper. The investigators' proposal to evaluate the extension of initial treatment from 14 to 28 days with a tapering dose of vancomycin represents a practical clinical trial that capitalizes on oral vancomycin's safety profile, worldwide availability, and relatively low cost.

Timeline

Start

2020-11-19

Primary completion

2024-10-04

Completion

2024-11-22

Publications

• Background Leffler DA, Lamont JT. Clostridium difficile infection. N Engl J Med. 2015 Apr 16;372(16):1539-48. doi: 10.1056/NEJMra1403772. No abstract available.
• Background Lessa FC, Gould CV, McDonald LC. Current status of Clostridium difficile infection epidemiology. Clin Infect Dis. 2012 Aug;55 Suppl 2(Suppl 2):S65-70. doi: 10.1093/cid/cis319.
• Background Levy AR, Szabo SM, Lozano-Ortega G, Lloyd-Smith E, Leung V, Lawrence R, Romney MG. Incidence and Costs of Clostridium difficile Infections in Canada. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2015 Jun 3;2(3):ofv076. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofv076. eCollection 2015 Sep.
• Background Dobson G, Hickey C, Trinder J. Clostridium difficile colitis causing toxic megacolon, severe sepsis and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome. Intensive Care Med. 2003 Jun;29(6):1030. doi: 10.1007/s00134-003-1754-7. Epub 2003 May 7. No abstract available.
• Background Mylonakis E, Ryan ET, Calderwood SB. Clostridium difficile--Associated diarrhea: A review. Arch Intern Med. 2001 Feb 26;161(4):525-33. doi: 10.1001/archinte.161.4.525.
• Background McDonald EG, Milligan J, Frenette C, Lee TC. Continuous Proton Pump Inhibitor Therapy and the Associated Risk of Recurrent Clostridium difficile Infection. JAMA Intern Med. 2015 May;175(5):784-91. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2015.42.
• Background Sheitoyan-Pesant C, Abou Chakra CN, Pepin J, Marcil-Heguy A, Nault V, Valiquette L. Clinical and Healthcare Burden of Multiple Recurrences of Clostridium difficile Infection. Clin Infect Dis. 2016 Mar 1;62(5):574-580. doi: 10.1093/cid/civ958. Epub 2015 Nov 17.
• Background Rodrigues R, Barber GE, Ananthakrishnan AN. A Comprehensive Study of Costs Associated With Recurrent Clostridium difficile Infection. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2017 Feb;38(2):196-202. doi: 10.1017/ice.2016.246. Epub 2016 Nov 7.
• Background Olsen MA, Yan Y, Reske KA, Zilberberg MD, Dubberke ER. Recurrent Clostridium difficile infection is associated with increased mortality. Clin Microbiol Infect. 2015 Feb;21(2):164-70. doi: 10.1016/j.cmi.2014.08.017. Epub 2014 Oct 12.
• Background The Lancet. A new approach to treating infection. Lancet. 2018 Feb 24;391(10122):714. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)30320-9. No abstract available.
• McDonald EG, Butler-Laporte G, Brophy JM, Elsayed S, Frenette C, Huseen I, Loo VG, Moran K, Coburn B, Hota SS, Longtin Y, Kong LY, Muller MP, Steiner TS, Valiquette L, Daneman N, Daley P, Nott C, MacFadden DR, Kandel CE, Chen Y, Perez-Patrigeon S, Lee TC; TAPER-V Team. Initial Vancomycin Taper for the Prevention of Recurrent Clostridioides difficile Infection: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2026 Feb 2;9(2):e2560495. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.60495.

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