Effect of testing methods on incidence of Clostridioides difficile infection rates in Veterans' Affairs medical centers

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2021 Apr;42(4):461-463. doi: 10.1017/ice.2020.452. Epub 2020 Nov 13.

Abstract

Clostridioidesdifficile infection rates from 7 facilities that used nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT) alone for 12 months then switched to NAAT plus toxin enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and reported the latter result for 12 months were compared to 70 facilities that used NAAT alone for all 24 months. There was no significant difference in rates between facility groups over the first 12 months (P = .21, linear regression), but we detected a decrease in rates for the facilities that changed to NAAT+EIA (P < .0001).

MeSH terms

  • Bacterial Toxins*
  • Clostridioides
  • Clostridioides difficile*
  • Clostridium Infections* / diagnosis
  • Clostridium Infections* / epidemiology
  • Humans
  • Incidence
  • Veterans*

Substances

  • Bacterial Toxins