As the most common cause of healthcare-associated diarrhoea in industrialised countries, Clostridium difficile continues to represent a significant amount of morbidity and mortality worldwide.
With each case of hospital-acquired C. difficile Infection (CDI) costing an estimated £7000 in the UK, at a time of increased healthcare pressures and cost justifications, accurate testing for CDI is often high on hospital agendas. As diagnostic capabilities have been developed and assessed in line with clinical outcome, common algorithms that truly improve patient outcomes, inform treatment therapy and limit the unnecessary use of healthcare resources appear ever closer. As technology develops over time, more laboratories are exploring molecular methods for diagnosing respiratory and enteric diseases; however, even though this type of methodology can be accurate, for CDI specifically, it should not be used in isolation.
