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Published on: May 25, 2017
Comparison of Clostridioides difficile nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) results using fresh and frozen stool
Rebekah E Dumm1, Carey-Ann D Burnham1, Tiffany Hink2
1Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
Importance:
Nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) are frequently used in Clostridioides difficile research and diagnostic testing, but the effect of freezing specimens on C. difficile NAAT performance is not well characterized. This study evaluated the concordance of NAAT results between fresh and frozen specimens (fecal and rectal swabs) and found it to be very good to excellent. The results indicate that frozen fecal and rectal swab specimens may be used for C. difficile NAAT testing in research when fresh specimens are not available.
