Table 4.

Comparison and suggested usage of typing methods employed in the present study.

Typing method	Reproducibility	Inter-laboratory exchange	Discriminatory power	Running costs	Suggested usage
Toxigenic typing	+++	++	+	+	Toxin status confirmation and risk assessment for virulence
tcdC genotyping	+++	+	++	+	Hypervirulence strain detection
slpA genotyping	+++	+	++	+	Regional epidemiology for vaccine development
MLST	+++	+++	++	+++	Epidemiology surveillance (high costs); phylogenetic studies
Ribotyping	+++	+	++	+	Epidemiology surveillance (low costs); infection prevention and control
MLVA	+++	++	+++	++	Detection of local outbreaks