The diagnostic performance and accuracy of 3 molecular assays for the detection of Clostridium difficile in stool samples, compared with the Xpert® C. difficile assay

Maya Azrad, Linda Tkhawkho, Zohar Hamo, Avi Peretz

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This research compares the performance and diagnostic accuracy of three molecular tests for the detection of Clostridium difficile in stool samples, with the Xpert® C. difficile assay. Fifty-nine positive and twenty-five stool negative samples were analyzed by the BDmax™ Cdiff, the Simplexa C. difficile Direct, and the GenomEra™ C. difficile, and compared with the Xpert® C. difficile routinely used in our laboratory. The highest sensitivity was 94.9% for the BDmax™ Cdiff, followed by GenomEra™ C. difficile with 93.2%, and Simplexa™ C. difficile Direct with 89.8%. The specificities of all assays were 100%. GenomEra™ C. difficile had the highest retesting rate (12%). Simplexa™ C. difficile Direct benefits from both short hands-on time and total-turnaround time and 0% retesting. The differences in performance and accuracy between these three molecular assays are insignificant and all may be used as part of the routine algorithm for detection of C. difficile.

Original languageEnglish
Article number105784
JournalJournal of Microbiological Methods
Volume168
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2020
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier B.V.

Keywords

  • Clostridium difficile
  • Diagnostic accuracy
  • Molecular assays
  • Performance

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Microbiology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Microbiology (medical)

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