Pfizer's vaccine for Clostridium difficile (C. diff) looks like it may join a growing list of candidates that have been shelved or delayed, after the shot failed to meet its primary objective in a ...

C. diff causes nearly 30,000 deaths each year in the US, says Ferring, and recurrent infections with the bacterium make up 10%-15% of all hospital-treated infections.

C. diff is a problem around the country. Other local hospitals that scored worse than the national benchmark on C. diff were Carondelet St. Mary’s Hospital and Tucson Medical Center.