Not all tests are created equal: Identifying C. diff in hospital labs
Tuesday, July 5, 2011 - 11:01
in Biology & Nature
A study from the microbiology lab at the Lifespan hospitals has found that some lab tests are much more accurate in identifying Clostridium difficile Toxin (C. diff) infection (CDI), which causes diarrhea. The findings indicate that a molecular method detects up to 50 percent more cases of C. diff than other methods. While molecular technology is more expensive, it allows for more cases to be identified and assists in patient safety efforts within the hospital in terms of preventing hospital-acquired C. diff infections. The study is published online the July issue of the Journal of Molecular Diagnostics.