Comparison of VIDAS CDAB and CDA immunoassay for the detection of Clostridium difficile in a tcdA- tcdB+ C. difficile prevalent area

Anaerobe. 2009 Dec;15(6):266-9. doi: 10.1016/j.anaerobe.2009.09.008. Epub 2009 Sep 20.

Abstract

Enzyme immunoassays for TcdA and/or TcdB are widely used for diagnosis of C. difficile infection. This study compared the performance of the new VIDAS C. difficile Toxin A & B assay (CDAB) with that of the existing VIDAS C. difficile Toxin A II assay (CDA) in a tcdA(-)tcdB(+) prevalent area. A total of 555 fecal samples were cultured and tested using CDAB and CDA. C. difficile was isolated in 150 samples and the concordance rate was 81.8% (454/555) between CDAB and CDA. PCR assays for tcdA and/or tcdB were used as a confirmatory test on C. difficile strains recovered from culture positive cases (n=150) and on fecal specimens in culture negative/CDAB positive or equivocal cases (n=27). The number of tcdA(+)tcdB(+), tcdA(-)tcdB(+), and tcdA(-)tcdB(-) strains on culture positive isolates (n=150) were 75 (50.0%), 41 (27.3%), and 34 (22.7%), respectively. PCR assays for tcdB gene alone in stool specimens (n=27) showed positivity in five cases. The sensitivity of VIDAS CDAB was higher than that of VIDAS CDA (65.3% vs. 29.8%), by more than 2-fold. The specificity of CDAB was almost the same as CDA (93.8% vs. 94.5%). Toxigenic culture of C. difficile isolates in culture positive/VIDAS CDAB negative cases (n=62) additionally detected 22 VIDAS CDAB positive and 9 VIDAS CDAB equivocal cases. The VIDAS CDAB assay detects more tcdA(+)tcdB(+) strains (60% vs. 45.3%) and tcdA(-)tcdB(+) strains (70.7% vs. 0%) compared with VIDAS CDA.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Evaluation Study

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Bacterial Proteins / analysis*
  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics
  • Bacterial Toxins / analysis*
  • Bacterial Toxins / genetics
  • Child
  • Clostridioides difficile* / genetics
  • Clostridioides difficile* / isolation & purification
  • Clostridioides difficile* / metabolism
  • Culture Media
  • DNA, Bacterial / analysis
  • Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / diagnosis*
  • Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / epidemiology
  • Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / microbiology
  • Enterotoxins / analysis*
  • Enterotoxins / genetics
  • Feces / chemistry
  • Feces / microbiology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Immunoenzyme Techniques / methods*
  • Korea / epidemiology
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Prevalence
  • Reagent Kits, Diagnostic
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Bacterial Toxins
  • Culture Media
  • DNA, Bacterial
  • Enterotoxins
  • Reagent Kits, Diagnostic
  • tcdA protein, Clostridium difficile
  • toxB protein, Clostridium difficile