If your child has symptoms of C. difficile, your pediatric gastroenterologist at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital Center for Digestive Health and Nutrition will ask about risk factors such as a recent hospitalization or a course of antibiotics. They also will do a physical exam to check your child’s overall health.
Testing for C. difficile includes analyzing a stool sample in the lab. This test checks for C. difficile toxins or the genes that produce them. Since many newborn babies are colonized with C. difficile without being infected, their symptoms are likely to come from another cause and their stool is not routinely tested.
