Efficacy of Oral Vancomycin in Preventing Recurrent Clostridium difficile Infection in Patients Treated With Systemic Antimicrobial Agents

We compared rates of recurrent Clostridium difficile infection in patients receiving or not receiving oral vancomycin prophylaxis with systemic antimicrobial therapy. The incidence of C. difficile infection was significantly lower in patients receiving prophylaxis (4.2% vs 26.6% in those without prophylaxis; odds ratio, 0.12; 95% confidence interval, .04-.4; P < .001).