Skip to main content
  • ASM
    • Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy
    • Applied and Environmental Microbiology
    • Clinical Microbiology Reviews
    • Clinical and Vaccine Immunology
    • EcoSal Plus
    • Eukaryotic Cell
    • Infection and Immunity
    • Journal of Bacteriology
    • Journal of Clinical Microbiology
    • Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education
    • Journal of Virology
    • mBio
    • Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews
    • Microbiology Resource Announcements
    • Microbiology Spectrum
    • Molecular and Cellular Biology
    • mSphere
    • mSystems
  • Log in
  • My alerts
  • My Cart

Main menu

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current Issue
    • Accepted Manuscripts
    • COVID-19 Special Collection
    • Archive
    • Minireviews
  • For Authors
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • Scope
    • Editorial Policy
    • Submission, Review, & Publication Processes
    • Organization and Format
    • Errata, Author Corrections, Retractions
    • Illustrations and Tables
    • Nomenclature
    • Abbreviations and Conventions
    • Publication Fees
    • Ethics Resources and Policies
  • About the Journal
    • About JCM
    • Editor in Chief
    • Editorial Board
    • For Reviewers
    • For the Media
    • For Librarians
    • For Advertisers
    • Alerts
    • RSS
    • FAQ
  • Subscribe
    • Members
    • Institutions
  • ASM
    • Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy
    • Applied and Environmental Microbiology
    • Clinical Microbiology Reviews
    • Clinical and Vaccine Immunology
    • EcoSal Plus
    • Eukaryotic Cell
    • Infection and Immunity
    • Journal of Bacteriology
    • Journal of Clinical Microbiology
    • Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education
    • Journal of Virology
    • mBio
    • Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews
    • Microbiology Resource Announcements
    • Microbiology Spectrum
    • Molecular and Cellular Biology
    • mSphere
    • mSystems

User menu

  • Log in
  • My alerts
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of Clinical Microbiology
publisher-logosite-logo

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current Issue
    • Accepted Manuscripts
    • COVID-19 Special Collection
    • Archive
    • Minireviews
  • For Authors
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • Scope
    • Editorial Policy
    • Submission, Review, & Publication Processes
    • Organization and Format
    • Errata, Author Corrections, Retractions
    • Illustrations and Tables
    • Nomenclature
    • Abbreviations and Conventions
    • Publication Fees
    • Ethics Resources and Policies
  • About the Journal
    • About JCM
    • Editor in Chief
    • Editorial Board
    • For Reviewers
    • For the Media
    • For Librarians
    • For Advertisers
    • Alerts
    • RSS
    • FAQ
  • Subscribe
    • Members
    • Institutions
Bacteriology

Evaluation of the Use of Rectal Swabs for Laboratory Diagnosis of Clostridium difficile Infection

N. Jazmati, E. Kirpal, E. Piepenbrock, Y. Stelzer, M. J. G. T. Vehreschild, H. Seifert
Andrew B. Onderdonk, Editor
N. Jazmati
aInstitute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Hygiene, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
bGerman Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), partner site Bonn-Cologne, Germany
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for N. Jazmati
E. Kirpal
aInstitute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Hygiene, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
E. Piepenbrock
aInstitute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Hygiene, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Y. Stelzer
aInstitute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Hygiene, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
M. J. G. T. Vehreschild
bGerman Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), partner site Bonn-Cologne, Germany
cDepartment I of Internal Medicine, University Hospital of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
H. Seifert
aInstitute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Hygiene, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
bGerman Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), partner site Bonn-Cologne, Germany
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Andrew B. Onderdonk
Brigham and Women's Hospital
Roles: Editor
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
DOI: 10.1128/JCM.00426-18
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

ABSTRACT

For the diagnosis of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), microbiological testing is almost always accomplished through the analysis of stool specimens. We evaluated the performances of rectal swabs with liquid transport medium (FS) and nylon flocked dry swabs for the detection of C. difficile. Additionally, the impact on the diagnostic yield of storing swabs at −80°C for up to 3 months was evaluated. Sixty clinical stool samples positive for C. difficile by PCR were used for simulating rectal swabbing. FS and dry swabs were dipped into the stool and tested by PCR directly after swabbing at 1 and 3 months after storage at −80°C. Stool and the liquid medium of FS were additionally tested by a combination of glutamate dehydrogenase antigen (GDH) testing and toxin A/B enzyme immunoassay (EIA), as well as by toxigenic culture (TC). Using dry swabs, the PCR-based detection rate of C. difficile was equal to the rate using stool samples (30/30 [100%]), whereas the detection rate in FS was significantly lower (25/30 [83.2%]; P = 0.019). The sensitivities of FS for detecting C. difficile by PCR, TC, GDH testing, and toxin A/B EIA were 83.3%, 85.7%, 88%, and 68.9%, respectively. Storage of swabs at −80°C had no impact on the detection rate. FS cannot replace stool samples in the two-step laboratory diagnosis of CDI, as the sensitivities were too low, probably due to diluting effects of the fecal sample in the liquid medium. For simple PCR-based detection of C. difficile, dry swabs proved to be a suitable alternative to the use of stool samples.

  • Copyright © 2018 American Society for Microbiology.

All Rights Reserved.

View Full Text
PreviousNext
Back to top
Download PDF
Citation Tools
Evaluation of the Use of Rectal Swabs for Laboratory Diagnosis of Clostridium difficile Infection
N. Jazmati, E. Kirpal, E. Piepenbrock, Y. Stelzer, M. J. G. T. Vehreschild, H. Seifert
Journal of Clinical Microbiology Jun 2018, 56 (7) e00426-18; DOI: 10.1128/JCM.00426-18

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Print

Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email

Thank you for sharing this Journal of Clinical Microbiology article.

NOTE: We request your email address only to inform the recipient that it was you who recommended this article, and that it is not junk mail. We do not retain these email addresses.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Evaluation of the Use of Rectal Swabs for Laboratory Diagnosis of Clostridium difficile Infection
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from Journal of Clinical Microbiology
(Your Name) thought you would be interested in this article in Journal of Clinical Microbiology.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Evaluation of the Use of Rectal Swabs for Laboratory Diagnosis of Clostridium difficile Infection
N. Jazmati, E. Kirpal, E. Piepenbrock, Y. Stelzer, M. J. G. T. Vehreschild, H. Seifert
Journal of Clinical Microbiology Jun 2018, 56 (7) e00426-18; DOI: 10.1128/JCM.00426-18
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Top
  • Article
    • ABSTRACT
    • INTRODUCTION
    • MATERIALS AND METHODS
    • RESULTS
    • DISCUSSION
    • ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    • FOOTNOTES
    • REFERENCES
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF

KEYWORDS

Clostridium difficile

Related Articles

Cited By...

About

  • About JCM
  • Editor in Chief
  • Board of Editors
  • Editor Conflicts of Interest
  • For Reviewers
  • For the Media
  • For Librarians
  • For Advertisers
  • Alerts
  • RSS
  • FAQ
  • Permissions
  • Journal Announcements

Authors

  • ASM Author Center
  • Submit a Manuscript
  • Article Types
  • Resources for Clinical Microbiologists
  • Ethics
  • Contact Us

Follow #JClinMicro

@ASMicrobiology

       

ASM Journals

ASM journals are the most prominent publications in the field, delivering up-to-date and authoritative coverage of both basic and clinical microbiology.

About ASM | Contact Us | Press Room

 

ASM is a member of

Scientific Society Publisher Alliance

 

American Society for Microbiology
1752 N St. NW
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: (202) 737-3600

 

Copyright © 2021 American Society for Microbiology | Privacy Policy | Website feedback

Print ISSN: 0095-1137; Online ISSN: 1098-660X