Clinical Utility of Laboratory Detection of Clostridium difficile Strain BI/NAP1/027.
Clostridium difficile strain BI/NAP1/027 is associated with increased C. difficile infection (CDI) rates and severity, and the efficacy of some CDI therapies may be strain dependent. Although cultured C. difficile isolates can be reliably subtyped by various methods, the long turnaround times, high cost, and limited availability of strain typing preclude their routine use. Nucleic acid amplification tests identify BI/NAP1/027 rapidly from stool, but the emergence of closely related strains compromises test specificity. Although detection of epidemiologically significant pathogens is generally useful for infection control programs, specific data supporting use of rapid detection of BI/NAP1/027 as an infection control tool are still awaited.
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, Ilinois, USA Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Ilinois, USA lkociolek@luriechildrens.org.
Larry K
LK
Kociolek
Edward Hines, Jr., Veterans Affairs Hospital, Hines, Ilinois, USA Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, Maywood, Ilinois, USA.
Dale N
DN
Gerding
D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003015:Clostridium Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology*; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005838:Genotype; D060005:Genotyping Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D025202:Molecular Diagnostic Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*