Article Figures & Data
Figures
- Figure 1
Antibiotic therapy can paradoxically lead to recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection by disrupting the normal colonic microbiota.
- Figure 2
Photomicrograph showing the presence of Clostridioides difficile bacteria, many of which have assumed an endospore morphology. This is from a blood agar impression smear incubated for 72 hours anaerobically.
From the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Gilda Jones; Public Domain; Available at: https://phil.cdc.gov/phil/details.asp?pid=3876
- Figure 3
Fecal microbiota transplantation involves instilling fecal material from a healthy donor to restore the normal intestinal flora.
Tables
Test Characteristics Sensitivity, specificity Organism detection assays Nucleic acid amplification tests (eg, polymerase chain reaction) Detects toxin gene (ie, organism) but not toxins High sensitivity
Low to moderate specificityGlutamate dehydrogenase C difficile common antigen High sensitivity
Low specificityToxigenic C difficile culture Growth of C difficile organism
Testing not readily available
Slow turnaround timeHigh sensitivity
Low specificityToxin detection assays Enzyme immunoassay Detects free toxins Low sensitivity
Moderate specificityCell culture cytotoxicity neutralization assay Detects free toxins
Lacks standardization
Slow turnaround timeHigh sensitivity
High specificity, if optimizedInformation from McDonald et al, reference 2.
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