Leukocytosis is not an independent predictor of Clostridium difficile

Although leukocytosis is a prognostic marker in patients with Clostridium difficile (C difficile) infection, it is not an independent predictor of a positive nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) result for hospitalized patients, according to study results published in Clinical Infectious Diseases. In this retrospective, cross-sectional study, researchers reviewed data of 16,568 consecutive patients from 4 hospitals over 4 years to determine if leukocytosis correlated with a positive C difficile NAAT results. Leukocytosis was defined as an elevated white blood cell count (WBC) that was greater than 15 thousand/µL. All patients had WBC and NAAT testing on the same day. The majority of patients were men with a median age of 60 years; 74% (n=12,290) were inpatients, 15% (n=2507) were outpatients, and 11% (n=1771) were in the emergency department (ED). A total of 1681 patients were diagnosed with C difficile and the remaining 14,887 tested negative for C difficile. WBC was not predictive of...