Clostridiodes Difficile Testing

Microbiology

Summary

We perform 3 different tests (dependent on the presentation) for:

Glutamate Dehydrogenase (GDH) (ELISA) – detects presence of C. difficile
Toxin A+B (ELISA) – detects presence of the A + B toxins
Toxin Genes (PCR) – detects presence of genes encoding toxins

We will provide an interpretation dependent the combination of these results. If both GDH and toxin are detected by ELISA; we consider this likely to represent toxigenic C. difficile infection and will report this to the Department of Health under the mandatory reporting scheme.

Usage

Screening for / diagnosis of infection with toxigenic Clostridiodes difficile (previously known as Clostridium difficile.)

Specimen

Faeces

Specimen container

Fecon pot

Special Instructions

Please state in clinicals any recent antibiotic use.

Please ensure that stool sample pots are filled between 1/3 to 1/2 full. This is sufficient sample volume for all stool tests. Under-filling or over-filling stool sample pots may lead to samples being unsuitable for analysis.

N.B. Formed stools will NOT be tested for C. diffiicile

Testing will NOT be performed on patients under 2 years old.

Testing will ONLY be performed on patients from the community if:

They are >65 yrs old
Or they have recent antibiotic use
Or it is specifically requested by a clinician on the test request

Availability

Tested locally at RD&E

Turnaround Time

Within 30 hours (7 days a week)

Useful Links

Patients:

Clostridioides difficile and C. difficile Toxin Testing – Lab Tests Online

Clostridium difficile (C. diff) – NHS

Healthcare professionals:

Clostridioides difficile: guidance, data and analysis – UKHSA

(Keywords: cdiff, c.diff)

Specimen Labelling Procedure