Emerging Infectious Diseases (Mar 2018)
Artificial Differences in Clostridium difficile Infection Rates Associated with Disparity in Testing
- Mini Kamboj,
- Jennifer Brite,
- Anoshe Aslam,
- Jessica Kennington,
- N. Esther Babady,
- David Calfee,
- Yoko Furuya,
- Donald Chen,
- Michael Augenbraun,
- Belinda Ostrowsky,
- Gopi Patel,
- Monica Mircescu,
- Vivek Kak,
- Roman Tuma,
- Teresa A. Karre,
- Deborah A. Fry,
- Yola P. Duhaney,
- Amber Moyer,
- Denise Mitchell,
- Sherry Cantu,
- Candace Hsieh,
- Nancy Warren,
- Stacy Martin,
- Jill Willson,
- Jeanne Dickman,
- Julie Knight,
- Kim Delahanty,
- Annemarie Flood,
- Jennifer Harrington,
- Deborah Korenstein,
- Janet Eagan,
- Kent Sepkowitz
Affiliations
- Mini Kamboj
- Jennifer Brite
- Anoshe Aslam
- Jessica Kennington
- N. Esther Babady
- David Calfee
- Yoko Furuya
- Donald Chen
- Michael Augenbraun
- Belinda Ostrowsky
- Gopi Patel
- Monica Mircescu
- Vivek Kak
- Roman Tuma
- Teresa A. Karre
- Deborah A. Fry
- Yola P. Duhaney
- Amber Moyer
- Denise Mitchell
- Sherry Cantu
- Candace Hsieh
- Nancy Warren
- Stacy Martin
- Jill Willson
- Jeanne Dickman
- Julie Knight
- Kim Delahanty
- Annemarie Flood
- Jennifer Harrington
- Deborah Korenstein
- Janet Eagan
- Kent Sepkowitz
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2403.170961
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 24,
no. 3
pp. 584 – 587
Abstract
In 2015, Clostridium difficile testing rates among 30 US community, multispecialty, and cancer hospitals were 14.0, 16.3, and 33.9/1,000 patient-days, respectively. Pooled hospital onset rates were 0.56, 0.84, and 1.57/1,000 patient-days, respectively. Higher testing rates may artificially inflate reported rates of C. difficile infection. C. difficile surveillance should consider testing frequency.
Keywords
- Clostridium difficile
- healthcare-associated infection
- nucleic acid amplification tests
- testing rate
- National Healthcare Safety Network
- bacteria