In May 2010, a total of 138 people at four different hospitals in Denmark were infected with the 027 strain  plus there were some isolated occurrences at other hospitals. In May 2010,  14 fatalities were related to the bacterium in the Australian state of Victoria. Two years later, the same strain of the bacterium was detected in New Zealand. On 28 May 2011, an outbreak in Ontario had been reported, with 26 fatalities as of 24 July 2011. In 2012/2013, a total of 27 people at one hospital in the south of Sweden (Ystad) were infected with 10 deaths. Five died of the strain 017. Etymology and pronunciation
The genus name is from the Greek klōstēr (κλωστήρ), "spindle", and the specific name is from Latin difficile, neuter singular form of difficilis "difficult, obstinate", chosen in reference to fastidiousness upon culturing. Regarding the pronunciation of the current and former genus assignments, Clostridioides is  and Clostridium is . Both genera still have species assigned to them, but this species is now classified in the former. Via the norms of binomial nomenclature, it is understood that the former binomial name of this species is now an alias. Regarding the specific name,  is the traditional norm, reflecting how medical English usually pronounces naturalized New Latin words (which in turns largely reflects traditional English pronunciation of Latin), although a restored pronunciation of  is also sometimes used (the classical Latin pronunciation is reconstructed as [kloːsˈtrɪdɪ.ũː dɪfˈfɪkɪlɛ]).
This is more accurate than cytotoxigenic culture or cell cytotoxicity assay. Another benefit is that the result can be achieved within three hours. Drawbacks include a higher cost and the fact that the test only looks for the gene for the toxin and not the toxin itself. The latter means that if the test is used without confirmation, overdiagnosis may occur. Repeat testing may be misleading, and testing specimens more than once every seven days in people without new symptoms is highly unlikely to yield useful information. Prevention
Self containment by housing people in private rooms is important to prevent the spread of C. difficile. Contact precautions are an important part of preventing the spread of  C. difficile. C. difficile does not often occur in people who are not taking antibiotics so limiting use of antibiotics decreases the risk. Antibiotics
The most effective method for preventing CDI is proper antibiotic prescribing. In the hospital setting, where CDI is most common, most people who develop CDI are exposed to antibiotics. Although proper antibiotic prescribing is highly recommended, about 50% is considered inappropriate. This is consistent whether in the hospital, clinic, community, or academic setting. A decrease in CDI by limiting antibiotics or by limiting unnecessary prescriptions in general, both in an outbreak and nonoutbreak setting has been demonstrated to be most strongly associated with reduced CDI. Further, reactions to medication may be severe: CDI infections were the most common contributor to adverse drug events seen in U.S. hospitals in 2011.