Clostridioides difficile should be considered a bacterial priority pathogen

The Lancet Microbe, vol. 6, pp. 101184

Abstract

In 2024, WHO published its Bacterial Priority Pathogen list,1 which was thoughtfully highlighted by Timothy Jesudason in a News article in The Lancet Microbe.2 The impact of this list is substantial. Although WHO states that the list is intended “to guide research, development, and strategies”, policy makers and funders often use the list to impose eligibility criteria that directly influence public health and drug development decisions by academic, government, and private organisations, thereby affecting patient care.

Authors 10

1. Wiep Klaas Smits corresponding Aachen

   Leiden University · Leiden University Medical Center · European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases

   Affiliation as printed

   Leiden University Center for Infectious Diseases (LUCID), Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden 2300RC, Netherlands; European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) Study Group for Clostridioides difficile (ESGCD), ESCMID Executive Office, Basel, Switzerland. Electronic address: w.k.smits@lumc.nl

2. Kevin W. Garey

   University of Houston

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Houston College of Pharmacy, Houston, TX, USA

3. Thomas Victor Riley

   The University of Western Australia · Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre · European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases · Pathwest Laboratory Medicine

   Affiliation as printed

   European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) Study Group for Clostridioides difficile (ESGCD), ESCMID Executive Office, Basel, Switzerland; School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Western Australia and Department of Microbiology, PathWest Laboratory Medicine, Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre, Palmyra, WA, Australia

4. Yiping Weng Han

   Columbia University Irving Medical Center · Columbia University

   Affiliation as printed

   Section of Oral, Diagnostic and Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Dental Medicine, Departments of Microbiology & Immunology, OB&GYN, and Medicine (Medical Sciences), Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons, Herbert Irving Comprehensive Medical Center, Digestive and Live Diseases Research Center, Institute of Human Nutrition, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Columbia University, NY, USA; Anaerobe Society of the Americas, Los Angeles, CA, USA

5. Vincent Bensan Young

   University of Michigan · Michigan Medicine

   Affiliation as printed

   Anaerobe Society of the Americas, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

6. John Heritage

   European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases

   Affiliation as printed

   European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) Study Group for Clostridioides difficile (ESGCD), ESCMID Executive Office, Basel, Switzerland

7. Christian John Lillis
   Affiliation as printed

   The Peggy Lillis Foundation, Brooklyn, NY, USA

8. Dena Lyras

   Monash University

   Affiliation as printed

   Infection Program, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Department of Microbiology, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia; Steering Committee of the International Conference on the Molecular Biology and Pathogenesis of Clostridia (CLOSTPATH)

9. Maja Rupnik

   University of Maribor · National Laboratory of Health, Environment and Food · European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases

   Affiliation as printed

   European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) Study Group for Clostridioides difficile (ESGCD), ESCMID Executive Office, Basel, Switzerland; Department for Microbiological Research, National Laboratory of Health, Environment and Food, and Faculty of medicine, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia; National Laboratory for Health, Environment and Food, and Faculty of Medicine, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia; Steering Committee of the International C difficile Symposium (ICDS)

10. Stuart Johnson

    Loyola University Chicago

    Affiliation as printed

    Loyola University Chicago (Emeritus), Hines VA Hospital Research Service, Chicago, IL, USA