Researchers at the University of Nottingham have developed and validated a novel, CDI assay, enabling treatment stratification for patients with acute Clostridium difficile infection. Utilising a number of biomarkers, two prediction tools have been validated. Firstly, the severity of CDI can be predicted and categorised as either Mild or Severe. In addition, a 30- day mortality prediction tool using a number of CDI related toxins and proteins has been developed.
Clostridium difficile (CDI) is the leading worldwide infective cause of hospital-acquired and antibiotic-associated diarrhoea, imposing a considerable financial burden on health service providers. In Europe alone, the annual estimated costs for the management of CDI amount to €3Billion. Infection causes a spectrum of clinical presentations, ranging from an asymptomatic carrier state to severe fulminant coli s and death. Management of this infection is complicated due to antimicrobial resistance, recurring infections, and strikingly the inability to reliably differentiate between acute infection and asymptomatic or symptomatic carrier states.
