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01-06-2017 | Review

Rapid detection of Clostridium difficile toxins and laboratory diagnosis of Clostridium difficile infections

Authors: Shuyi Chen, Huawei Gu, Chunli Sun, Haiying Wang, Jufang Wang

Published in: Infection | Issue 3/2017

Abstract

Background

Clostridium difficile is an anaerobic, spore-forming and Gram-positive bacillus. It is the major cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhea prevailing in hospital settings. The morbidity and mortality of C. difficile infection (CDI) has increased significantly due to the emergence of hypervirulent strains. Because of the poor clinical different between CDI and other causes of hospital-acquired diarrhea, laboratory test for C. difficile is an important intervention for diagnosis of CDI.

Objective

Laboratory tests for CDI can broadly detect either the organisms or its toxins. Currently, several laboratory tests are used for diagnosis of CDI, including toxigenic culture, glutamate dehydrogenase detection, nucleic acid amplification testing, cell cytotoxicity assay, and enzyme immunoassay towards toxin A and/or B. This review focuses on the rapid testing of C. difficile toxins and currently available methods for diagnosis of CDI, giving an overview of the role that the toxins rapid detecting plays in clinical diagnosis of CDI.

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Title: Rapid detection of Clostridium difficile toxins and laboratory diagnosis of Clostridium difficile infections
Authors: Shuyi Chen
Huawei Gu
Chunli Sun
Haiying Wang
Jufang Wang
Publication date: 01-06-2017
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in: Infection / Issue 3/2017
Print ISSN: 0300-8126
Electronic ISSN: 1439-0973
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s15010-016-0940-9

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Abstract

Background

Objective

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