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Tests and diagnosis
By Mayo Clinic staffTo help diagnose antibiotic-associated diarrhea, your doctor will ask about your medical history, including whether you've had recent hospitalizations or antibiotic therapy. If your symptoms are severe, you'll also likely be asked to provide samples of your stool.
These are then checked in a laboratory for the presence of C. difficile. In a certain percentage of cases, the lab test result is falsely negative. This means that although C. difficile is present in your intestinal tract, it isn't detected by the test. Repeating the test may provide a more accurate result.
