C. difficile: the complete picture

C. difficile is responsible for the most common form of hospitalacquired diarrhoea and antibioticassociated colitis. Although primarily a hospital-acquired disease, C. difficile infection is occurring increasingly in community out-patient settings. This is causing a major problem in hospitals and the community because the number of patients at risk of C. difficile infection is substantial. Highly infectious and extremely dangerous in the immunocompromised or elderly patient, C. difficile infection can be life threatening. The test provides results in less than 30 minutes from faecal samples, enabling rapid diagnosis and initiation of appropriate patient management. Patients can be isolated at an earlier stage, reducing the risk of crosscontamination and widespread outbreaks. In addition, the new TECHLAB C. DIFF QUIK CHEK COMPLETE test detects toxigenic and non-toxigenic strains, including the new hypervirulent C. difficile strain BI/NAP1/027 which is causing outbreaks of increasing severity and mortality across Europe and North America.

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