Clostridium difficile infection: detection in just 20 minutes

The Remel Xpect Clostridium difficile Toxin A/B test, a valuable diagnostic tool for use in the rapid detection of C. difficile infection (CDI), is extremely easy to use and provides accurate and reliable results in just 20 minutes. This speed and convenience enables healthcare professionals to initiate appropriate patient care and infection control procedures quickly and decisively.

C. difficile infection continues to be a major concern across Europe.1–3 With each case costing between €5000 and €15,000, the financial impact of this pathogen on the European Union could exceed €3000 million every year.4. In England, reporting of CDI in patients over 65 has been mandatory since 2004, and in patients more than two years of age it has been required in all acute NHS hospitals since 2007. Although the number of cases reported in England declined in the last financial year (2008/2009),5 C. difficile was still involved in almost 6000 deaths.6

Elderly and immunocompromised patients who have recently received antibiotic therapy are most at risk of C. difficile-associated diarrhoea (CDAD), and infection can spread quickly throughout hospital wards and other healthcare institutions. The emergence of a highly virulent C. difficile strain (ribotype 027) in Canada, North America and Europe has contributed to multiple outbreaks of severe disease in hospitals and care homes.1–3 Recent guidelines recommend that, when CDI is suspected, a stool sample should be tested for the presence of C. difficile toxins immediately.7 Early diagnosis is recognised as one of several factors (including surveillance, education and infection control measures) that combine to prevent the spread of CDI.1