Diagnosis of Clostridium difficile -associated diarrhea is primarily based on clinical symptoms and stool assays for presence of the pathogen or toxins. Because nontoxigenic isolates are not responsible for the diarrhea as they do not produce toxins, accurate testing becomes even more important for exploring the association of C. difficile with other intestinal ailments and helps to prevent unnecessary treatment while minimizing the overuse of antibiotics.

      We have developed a novel multiplex PCR assay, which could amplify 10 DNA fragments from 5 loci, to identify toxigenic and nontoxigenic strain of Clostridium difficile at the same time.

      Our Clinical laboratory is now validating the new assay.