Test | Sensitivity and specificity | Comments |
Rapid tests for organism* (results available in 1 to 4 hours) | ||
NAAT (PCR or loop-mediated isothermal amplification) | Sensitivity: 96% Specificity: 94% |
|
EIA for GDH antigen | Sensitivity: 94% Specificity: 90% |
|
Rapid test for toxins* (results available in 1 to 4 hours) | ||
EIA for toxins A and/or B | Sensitivity: 83% Specificity: 99% |
|
Sample multistep algorithms¶ | ||
EIA for GDH followed by NAAT | Sensitivity: 91 to 98% Specificity: 96 to 98% |
|
EIA for GDH followed by EIA for toxins A and B | Sensitivity: 58 to 84% Specificity: >99% |
|
Traditional reference standards (results available in 2 to 5 days) | ||
Toxigenic culture | Reference standard for detecting toxigenic C. difficile |
|
Cell culture cytotoxicity assay | Reference standard for detecting C. difficile toxins |
|
EIA: enzyme immunoassay; GDH: glutamate dehydrogenase; NAAT: nucleic acid amplification test; PCR: polymerase chain reaction.
* Sensitivity and specificity data from Nicholson MR, et al.
¶ Sensitivity and specificity data from Planche TD, et al.Do you want to add Medilib to your home screen?