Are There Any Blood Tests To Diagnose Clostridium Difficile Infection?

Posted on Thu, 7 May 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 7 May 2015 Answered on

Wed, 3 Jun 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : Are there any blood test to identify or to verify C.diff infection after being treated with Vancomycin for several weeks? XXXXXXX
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Answered by Dr. Mohammed Taher Ali (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Tests not done routinely to check the effectiveness of treatment.

Detailed Answer:
Hi
Thanks for posting your query on HCM.

If the symptoms of Cl.difficille induced infection are controlled after a course of an appropriate antibiotic (like Vancomycin) the tests are usually not recommended.

However the following tests can be done to detect or rule out the infection:

1. Stool analysis for C. difficile toxin

This test detects harmful substance(toxin) produced by the bacteria Clostridium difficile.

2. Polymerase Chain Reaction test:

It is a rapid (results are ready within one hour) and very sensitive method to confirm the presence of C. difficile toxin. However, it is expensive.

When a person treated for antibiotic-associated diarrhea or colitis relapses and symptoms reoccur, C. difficile testing may be ordered to confirm the presence of the toxin.

Hope this answers your query.

Best regards.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad