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Evaluation of a new commercialClostridium difficile toxin A enzyme immunoassay using diarrhoeal stools

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Abstract

A new, commercially available enzyme immunoassay for the detection of toxin A in stool specimens, the PremierClostridium difficile Toxin A test (Meridian Diagnostics), was evaluated using 228 diarrhoeal stool specimens. Using a cytotoxin assay on HeLa cells as the reference method, this new test resulted in a sensitivity of 88 % and a specificity of 95 %. Using the presence or absence of a toxigenic strain in the stools as the reference method, the sensitivity was similar to that of the cytotoxin assay (71.7 % versus 70.5 %) and the overall correlation was even better (89.4 % versus 82 %). The PremierClostridium difficile Toxin A assay is rapid and easy to perform and is an excellent alternative to the usual toxin B assay.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University, of Louvain, Microbiology Unit, Avenue Hippocrate 54, UCL 54.90, B-1200, Brussels, Belgium

    M. Delmée, T. Mackey & A. Hamitou

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  1. M. Delmée
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  2. T. Mackey
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  3. A. Hamitou
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Delmée, M., Mackey, T. & Hamitou, A. Evaluation of a new commercialClostridium difficile toxin A enzyme immunoassay using diarrhoeal stools. Eur. J. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. 11, 246–249 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02098089

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