Tests for hospital bug ‘missing 20% of cases’

TESTS for the Clostridium difficile infection are missing up to 20% of cases and falsely diagnosing thousands of others, researchers have claimed.

A study by St George’s, University of London, and St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust found that the six most commonly used tests for the hospital bug gave inaccurate results in a number of cases.

As a result of the findings, researchers have recommended that patients are subjected to two-stage testing in order to avoid misdiagnosis.