C. difficile Infections: A Major Burden for Patients
Karuna Vendrik is a research physician and PhD student at Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) and the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM). She is one of the academic partners in COMBACTE-CDI where she coordinated the sample and data collection for the Netherlands. Karuna's work is in the infectious diseases field is very varied and has many interesting aspects, as she describes below.
At the LUMC, Karuna coordinates the Dutch C. difficile reference laboratory and the C. difficile surveillance (including the international ECDC C. difficile surveillance for the Netherlands) and is involved in the coordination and research activities of the Netherlands Donor feces Bank (NDFB).
“The NDFB is a Dutch stool bank that provides ready-to-use fecal suspensions for fecal microbiota transplantations (FMT) in patients with recurrent C. difficile infections, but also in patients with other diseases in research context or a Compassionate use program. For instance, I am setting up a clinical trial on FMT in Parkinson’s disease patients.
At the RIVM, I coordinate two epidemiological studies on colistin-resistance and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. My interests are mainly in the field of medical microbiology, with a main focus on C. difficile infections, antimicrobial resistance and fecal microbiota transplantations.
When I finished my masters in Medicine, I worked as a physician for one year in the departments of Internal medicine, Cardiology, Pulmonology and Gastroenterology. I found out that I had a great interest in infectious diseases, in particular in medical microbiology, as this deals with different aspects of infectious diseases and there is a major role for research”.
C. difficile surveillance
“When I read that Prof. Ed Kuijper – medical microbiologist in the LUMC – was performing research on C. difficile infections and FMT, I thought this would be a suitable path for me.
As Prof. Ed Kuijper was involved in COMBACTE-CDI, I joined as well. Little is known about the extent in which European countries participate in national and international C. difficile surveillance. The partners of the LUMC were responsible for composing a questionnaire on C. difficile surveillance for all European countries and I helped composing this.
Clostridioides difficile infections are often recurrent and a major burden for these patients, affecting not only their physical condition, but also other aspects of life. Therefore, research on this topic is very important”.
Clostridioides difficile infections are often recurrent and a major burden for these patients, affecting not only their physical condition, but also other aspects of life. Therefore, research on this topic is very important.
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