Updates From the SHEA Conference: Using EHRs to Find C difficile Earlier, and More
Attendees at the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) 2023 Spring Conference heard presentations about using electronic health records to identify cases of Clostridioides difficile earlier, as well as an update about infection control strategies.
Reducing unnecessary urine culture testing in residents of long term care facilities
### What you need to know An older woman with moderate stage dementia living in a long term care home has new confusion and slurred speech. Her nurse notes an “unusual smell” while collecting a urine specimen and sends it for culture testing to the microbiology laboratory. The care home physician is notified that afternoon of the clinical finding and performs a focused examination, which is unremarkable, and then signs off the urine culture order. The urine culture returns with significant growth of Escherichia coli and the woman is prescribed a course of antibiotics. Five days later, she experiences an acute decline in her clinical status, including worsening dysarthria and right sided weakness, and is transferred to hospital, where a stroke is diagnosed. Focusing on a diagnosis of urinary tract infection (UTI), despite the absence of correlating symptoms, has resulted in delayed recognition of stroke symptoms and timely treatment. Overdiagnosis of UTI is one of the most common reasons for unnecessary use of antibiotics in long term care, including nursing and care homes.1 Most residents in these settings who have a positive result on urine culture testing do not actually have a UTI but rather asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB), defined as the presence of significant levels of bacteria isolated in the urine (greater than 105 colony forming units/mL) in the absence of localising symptoms of UTI, …
Evaluation of a novel Clostridioides difficile-selective growth broth under aerobic conditions - PubMed
A newly developed Clostridioides difficile-selective growth broth, which can be cultured under aerobic conditions, was found to have a sensitivity/specificity (98%/89%) comparable to conventional anaerobic culture methods. This might be a powerful tool for diagnosing Clostridioides difficile infecti …
Development and clinical application of a rapid, visually interpretable polymerase spiral reaction for tcdB gene of Clostridioides difficile in fecal cultures - PubMed
In the surveillance of outbreaks of Clostridioides difficile infection, the rapid detection and diagnosis of C. difficile remain a major challenge. Polymerase spiral reaction (PSR) is a nucleic acid amplification technique that uses mixed primers and the strand displacement activity of Bst DNA polym …
Two-Step Testing Helps Predict and Treat Recurrent C difficile Infection
This study explores the effectiveness of toxin testing in predicting Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) outcomes, revealing that patients with negative toxin results were less likely to experience CDI recurrence within 30 days.
Evaluation of a novel Clostridioides difficile-selective growth broth under aerobic conditions - PubMed
A newly developed Clostridioides difficile-selective growth broth, which can be cultured under aerobic conditions, was found to have a sensitivity/specificity (98%/89%) comparable to conventional anaerobic culture methods. This might be a powerful tool for diagnosing Clostridioides difficile infecti …
Development and clinical application of a rapid, visually interpretable polymerase spiral reaction for tcdB gene of Clostridioides difficile in fecal cultures - PubMed
In the surveillance of outbreaks of Clostridioides difficile infection, the rapid detection and diagnosis of C. difficile remain a major challenge. Polymerase spiral reaction (PSR) is a nucleic acid amplification technique that uses mixed primers and the strand displacement activity of Bst DNA polym …
Irritable bowel syndrome – controversies in diagnosis and management
The irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is the best-recognized disorder of gut brain interactions (DGBI). However, it is controversial if the Rome IV criteria iteration for IBS diagnosis is fit for purp...
Current Diagnostic and Treatment Approach of Clostridioides difficile Infection - PubMed
C. difficile infection is related to wide spectrum of disease, from self-limiting diarrhea to fulminant disease that can cause toxic megacolon or pseudo-membrane colitis. Difficult approach to diagnose this disease is also problem. C. difficile infection is diagnosed when diarrhea occurred in high r …
Update on Commonly Used Molecular Typing Methods for Clostridioides difficile - PubMed
This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the significant Clostridioides difficile molecular typing techniques currently employed in research and medical communities. The main objectives of this review are to describe the key molecular typing methods utilized in C. difficile …
Update on Commonly Used Molecular Typing Methods for Clostridioides difficile - PubMed
This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the significant Clostridioides difficile molecular typing techniques currently employed in research and medical communities. The main objectives of this review are to describe the key molecular typing methods utilized in C. difficile …
The Artificial Neural Network as a Diagnostic Tool of the Risk of Clostridioides difficile Infection among Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease - PubMed
The majority of recently published studies indicate a greater incidence and mortality due to Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Hospitalization, older age, the use of antibiotics, immunosuppression, proton pump inhibitors (PPI), and chronic …
An insight into Clostridioides difficile-associated diarrhea in Saudi children: diagnosis and treatment - PubMed
Although pediatric CDI epidemiology in Saudi Arabia doesn't impose a burden on the healthcare system, it should be noted that not all hospitals follow CDI diagnostic recommendations of international guidelines, which may result in cases underreporting. However, due to the presumed low CDI prevalence …
FDA clearance opens up MeMed's bacteria-versus-virus blood test to the point-of-care
The infectious disease diagnostic company MeMed is taking a big step toward a larger market of point-of-care settings, courtesy of a new FDA green light for its test that distinguishes between vira | The infectious disease diagnostic company MeMed is taking a big step toward a larger market, courtesy of an FDA green light for its test that distinguishes between viral and bacterial cases.
Unleashing the Potential: Clostridium Diagnostics Market Poised to Hit US$7.8 Billion by 2032 | Insights from FMI Analyst - FMIBlog
The global Clostridium Diagnostics Market is anticipated to grow at a 12.2% CAGR from 2022 to 2032, from US$ 2.5 billion to US$ 7.8 billion. The market saw a 13.6% CAGR between 2015 and 2021. The market is expanding as a result of increased awareness-raising activities for clostridium-related illnesses and their rising prevalence. There has been an increased focus of players in […]
Impact of mandatory nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) testing approval on hospital-onset Clostridioides difficile infection (HO-CDI) rates: A diagnostic stewardship intervention - PubMed
Misclassification of Clostridioides difficile colonization as hospital-onset C. difficile infection (HO-CDI) can lead to unnecessary treatment of patients and substantial financial penalties for hospitals. We successfully implemented mandatory C. difficile PCR testing approval a …
Hospital lowers rate of nosocomial C. difficile with revised approach
ORLANDO — A hospital reduced the rate of hospital-onset cases of Clostridioides difficile infection with a standardized system for early recognition and testing, researchers found.
Autocancellation of Uncollected CDI Test Orders Does Not Reduce Infection Rate
The reported C difficile healthcare-acquired infections rates per 10,000 patient days did not significantly change. The rates were 8.07 in the 6-month preintervention period and 8.77 in the intervention period for facilities A and B combined.
Clostridioides difficile PCR Tcdb Cycle Threshold predicts toxin EIA positivity but not severity of infection - PubMed
CT value was an acceptable predictor for EIA toxin but less so for clinical severity. Our study potentially supports a diagnostic algorithm including CT value to reduce the number of EIA toxin assays performed.
Clostridioides difficile PCR Tcdb Cycle Threshold predicts toxin EIA positivity but not severity of infection - PubMed
CT value was an acceptable predictor for EIA toxin but less so for clinical severity. Our study potentially supports a diagnostic algorithm including CT value to reduce the number of EIA toxin assays performed.
Challenges and future solutions for detection of Clostridioides difficile in adults - PubMed
There are no established standards for the diagnosis of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI), even though the importance of this infection in humans is well known. The effectiveness of the commercially available techniques, which are all standardized for use with human feces, is also limi …
