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A Protocol to Characterize the Morphological Changes of Clostridium difficile in Response to Antibiotic Treatment
Published on: May 25, 2017
Is repeat PCR needed for diagnosis of Clostridium difficile infection?
1Stanford University School of Medicine, Department of Pathology, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA. rluo2@stanford.edu
Journal of Clinical Microbiology
|August 6, 2010
Abstract:
Patients with diarrhea, defined as loose or watery stool, and two or more Clostridium difficile tcdB PCR tests within 14 days of each other were investigated. Repeat PCR for 293 patients with a prior negative result yielded negative results in 396 (97.5%) of 406 tests. Ten new positives were detected, including one false positive. Repeat PCR within 7 days appears rarely useful, except for patients with evidence of a new infection.

