Guidance

Clostridium difficile: updated guidance on diagnosis and reporting

Types of test for Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) and how to achieve the most accurate results for infection testing.

• From: Department of Health and Social Care
• Published: 6 March 2012

This publication was withdrawn on 13 May 2025

This guidance has been withdrawn because it’s out of date.

For information on the investigation, diagnosis and reporting of Clostridioides difficile infection, see the Royal College of Pathologists’ UK Standards for Microbiology Investigations - B10 Investigation of faecal specimens for Clostridioides difficile.

For current information on surveillance, see the Mandatory Enhanced Surveillance Protocol, linked under the ‘Support’ tab of ‘Help and support’ on the HCAI Data Capture System page.

Documents

[Withdrawn] Updated guidance on the diagnosis and reporting of Clostridium difficile

PDF, 330 KB, 27 pages

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.

Request an accessible format.

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email publications@dhsc.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Details

This revised guidance to healthcare providers identifies which 2 types of tests - when used in combination - will deliver the most accurate results for C. difficile infection testing.

Published 6 March 2012