C. diff tests might be misleading, report suggests

London, United Kingdom, November 1: The potentially dangerous Clostridium difficile bug may not get detected by the tests, finds the latest report.

During an analysis of 18 studies, the researchers at St. George’s University of London found a test giving an ‘all clear’ to at least a quarter of the infected people. The study published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases Journal also stressed the fact that the differences in the test results could lead to misleading infection rate comparisons between various hospitals.

Unreliable tests do not show accurate results and the accuracy level differs from one hospital to another leading to an increase in the number of deaths related to C. diff.

During the recent years, the rise in the number of deaths due to Clostridium difficile, or C-diff, as its know, has become a cause of grave concern as it could further spread infection to others. Normally, C-diff inhabits the gut of up to 70 percent of healthy newborns and 3 percent of healthy adults.

A timely and an accurate diagnosis is the key to controlling the spread of this infectious disease to other people. The unreliability factor of the current single test used to diagnose the symptoms has impressed upon the need for a second test to ensure higher levels of accuracy.

“A false negative result could mean that infected patients don’t get the right treatment and could pass the infection on to others,” said Dr. Timothy Planche of St. George’s Healthcare NHS Trust. “Conversely, patients receiving a false positive result may receive inappropriate treatment and be placed in wards along with infected patients, putting them at risk of contracting the infection.”

Professor Richard James, from Nottingham University, shares the same views as the "deficiencies" of current tests were a "serious problem". "Rapid molecular tests have recently been introduced for MRSA and will become available for C-diff shortly, but they are costlier than the current tests used in the NHS,” said Professor James.

It presents no imminent threat as long as the normal balance of gut bacteria is maintained. It is only when patients are given broad-spectrum antibiotics that C-diff can grow out of control causing CDAD. So, when there is an imbalance of bacteria and C-diff takes over, it causes symptoms of the disease.

C. diff’s toxins damage the gut wall, causing multiple problems ranging from mild diarrhea to severe pseudomembranous colitis, toxic megacolon and bowel perforation. The Clostridium difficile toxin test is used to diagnose antibioticdefine-associated diarrhea that is caused by C- diff.