Table 2. Clostridioides difficile infection data, Canada, 2017–2021^a.

C. difficile infection data	Year
	2017		2018		2019		2020		2021
Number of infections and incidence rates
Number of C. difficile infection cases	4,018		3,850		3,600		3,654		3,572
Rate per 1,000 patient admissions	4.29		4.15		3.70		3.97		3.94
Rate per 10,000 patient days	5.68		5.42		4.90		5.35		5.05
Number of reporting hospitals	68		68		73		82		80
Attributable mortality rate per 100 cases (%)b	2.6		1.2		2.2		2.5		2.2
Antimicrobial resistancec	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%
Clindamycin	149	22.0	307	48.7	221	38.9	62	17.1	64	11.9
Moxifloxacin	114	16.9	70	11.1	66	11.6	24	6.6	49	9.1
Rifampin	14	2.1	10	1.6	6	1.1	3	0.8	9	1.7
Metronidazole	0	0.0	1	0.2	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0
Total number of isolates testedd	676	N/A	631	N/A	568	N/A	363	N/A	538	N/A

Abbreviations: C. difficile, Clostridioides difficile; N/A, not applicable

^a All C. difficile isolates from 2017 to 2021 submitted to National Microbiology Laboratory were susceptible to tigecycline and vancomycin

^b Deaths where C. difficile infection was the direct cause of death or contributed to death 30 days after the date of the first positive lab specimen or positive histopathology specimen. Mortality data are collected during the two-month period (March and April of each year) for adults (age 18 years and older) and year-round for children (age one year to younger than 18 years old). Among paediatric patients, there was no death attributable to healthcare-associated C. difficile infection

^c C. difficile infection isolates are collected for resistance testing during the two-month period (March and April of each year) for adults (age 18 years and older) and year-round for children (age one year to younger than 18 years old) from admitted patients only

^d Total number reflects the number of isolates tested for each of the antibiotics listed above