Catching C. diff cases, not colonization

Optimizing inpatient testing for Clostridioides difficile is a tricky business, given the shortcomings of existing test options. The older method, toxin testing, misses some cases, while the newer, more sensitive tests, such as those using nucleic acid amplification, can give positive results in patients who are only colonized with C. difficile, not infected. An article in the Aug. 16 ACP Hospitalist explains how researchers have recently found some success in trials of strategies to make sure the right patients undergo testing. (ACP membership and ACP single sign-on required to read.)