Researchers at the University of California, Davis suggest that reliance on only molecular tests to diagnose Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) without tests for toxins or host responses appears to result in overdiagnosis, overtreatment, and increased healthcare costs for CDI. For the study, all CDI-related complications and deaths among hospitalized patients occurred in those with toxin immunoassay results. Patients with positive molecular test results but negative toxin immunoassay results had outcomes similar to those without CDI.
Source: JAMA Internal Medicine, September 8, 2015 (online).
