Impact of polymerase chain reaction testing on Clostridium difficile infection rates in an acute health care facility

Yanal M Murad; Justo Perez; Reza Nokhbeh; Gustavo Ybazeta; Brenda Dewar; Sebastien Lefebvre; Francisco Diaz-Mitoma

doi:10.1016/j.ajic.2014.12.021

Impact of polymerase chain reaction testing on Clostridium difficile infection rates in an acute health care facility

Am J Infect Control. 2015 Apr 1;43(4):383-6. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2014.12.021. Epub 2015 Feb 14.

Authors

Yanal M Murad¹, Justo Perez², Reza Nokhbeh¹, Gustavo Ybazeta², Brenda Dewar³, Sebastien Lefebvre², Francisco Diaz-Mitoma⁴

Affiliations

¹ Advanced Medical Research Institute of Canada, Vaccine Development and Immunotherapy Research Program, Sudbury, ON, Canada; Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Medical Sciences Division, Sudbury, ON, Canada.
² Advanced Medical Research Institute of Canada, Vaccine Development and Immunotherapy Research Program, Sudbury, ON, Canada.
³ Health Sciences North, Prevention and Control Program. Sudbury, ON, Canada.
⁴ Advanced Medical Research Institute of Canada, Vaccine Development and Immunotherapy Research Program, Sudbury, ON, Canada; Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Medical Sciences Division, Sudbury, ON, Canada. Electronic address: fdiazmitoma@amric.ca.

PMID: 25687359
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajic.2014.12.021

Abstract

Two rapid methods of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) diagnosis were compared between June 2012 and March 2013: a GeneXpert (Cepheid, Sunnyvale, Calif) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test and an enzyme immunoassay (EIA). The influence of these methods on the detection of hospital-acquired CDI and identification of CDI outbreaks was evaluated. We tested 1,592 stool samples for C difficile. The GeneXpert PCR test identified 211 positive samples (68 determined to be hospital-acquired infection), whereas EIA identified 105 positive samples (36 determined to be hospital-acquired infection). The GeneXpert PCR method in contrast to the EIA method increased the detection rates of nosocomial CDI cases and contributed to the declaration of CDI outbreaks.

Keywords: Clostridium difficile; Outbreak; PCR testing.

Publication types

Comparative Study

MeSH terms

Clostridioides difficile / isolation & purification*
Clostridium Infections / diagnosis*
Cross Infection / diagnosis*
Disease Outbreaks*
Female
Health Facilities*
Humans
Immunoenzyme Techniques
Male
Middle Aged
Polymerase Chain Reaction / methods*