reliability of testing kits

[feelinghopeful]

I was reading an article in nursing times, link at bottom. It stated that a study on reliability of c-diff testing kits was being conducted that would be released soon. The abbreviated results are in the link directly below:

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanin ... 73-3099(08)70233-0/abstract

http://www.nursingtimes.net/clinicalnew ... sting.html

[feelinghopeful]

That link isn't working. Let's try again. Note this excerpt "If the prevalence of CDT A and B in stool samples is relatively low (<10%), the positive predictive value of these assays is unacceptably low (eg, <50% in some circumstances) and will vary depending on the assay and number of samples tested. This low positive predictive value impinges on clinical management, outbreaks, and makes epidemiological data unreliable. To improve diagnosis, we suggest a two-stage testing strategy for C difficile toxin with an initial highly sensitive rapid screening test to identify positive samples that are then confirmed by a reference method."

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanin ... 73-3099(08)70233-0/abstract

[feelinghopeful]

Copy and paste the address into your browser. It won't copy right.

[klt03301]

That's a good article, feelinghopeful! Good info to have. Thanks so much for posting it.

Karen