Survey of diagnostic and typing capacity for Clostridium difficile infection in Europe, 2011 and 2014.

Survey of diagnostic and typing capacity for Clostridium difficile infection in Europe, 2011 and 2014. Euro Surveill. 2016 Jul 21;21(29) Authors: van Dorp SM, Notermans DW, Alblas J, Gastmeier P, Mentula S, Nagy E, Spigaglia P, Ivanova K, Fitzpatrick F, Barbut F, Morris T, Wilcox MH, Kinross P, Suetens C, Kuijper EJ, European Clostridium difficile Infection Surveillance Network (ECDIS-Net) project on behalf of all participants Abstract Suboptimal laboratory diagnostics for Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) impedes its surveillance and control across Europe. We evaluated changes in local laboratory CDI diagnostics and changes in national diagnostic and typing capacity for CDI during the European C. difficile Infection Surveillance Network (ECDIS-Net) project, through cross-sectional surveys in 33 European countries in 2011 and 2014. In 2011, 126 (61%) of a convenience sample of 206 laboratories in 31 countries completed a survey on local diagnostics. In 2014, 84 (67%) of these 126 laboratories in 26 countries completed a follow-up survey. Among laboratories that participated in both surveys, use of CDI diagnostics deemed 'optimal' or 'acceptable' increased from 19% to 46% and from 10% to 15%, respectively (p  < 0.001). The survey of national capacity was completed by national coordinators of 31 and 32 countries in 2011 and 2014, respectively. Capacity for any C. difficile typing method increased from 22/31 countries in 20...
Source: Euro Surveill - Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Tags: Euro Surveill Source Type: research