Gastrointestinal (GI) Pathogen Panels

EPIDEMIOLOGY AND PUBLIC HEALTH

Diagnostic evaluation using stool culture and culture- independent methods, if available, should be used in situations where the individual patient is at high risk of spreading disease to others, and during known or suspected outbreaks.

DIAGNOSIS

Stool diagnostic studies may be used if available in cases of dysentery, moderate-severe disease, and symptoms lasting >7 days to clarify the etiology of the patient’s illness and enable specific directed therapy.

Traditional methods of diagnosis (bacterial culture, microscopy with and without special stains and immunofluorescence, and antigen testing) fail to reveal the etiology of the majority of cases of acute diarrheal infection. If available, the use of FDA approved culture-independent methods of diagnosis can be recommended at least as an adjunct to traditional methods.

ANTIMICROBIAL THERAPY

Antibiotic sensitivity testing for management of the individual with acute diarrheal infection is currently not recommended.

The evidence does not support empiric antimicrobial therapy for routine acute diarrheal infection, except in cases of traveler’s diarrhea where the likelihood of bacterial pathogens is high enough to justify potential side effects of antibiotics.

SYNDROMIC TESTING
PrimeLab’s syndromic testing allows clinicians to quickly identify infectious agents that produce similar symptoms in patients. PrimeLab’s innovative PCR technology provides answers in a clinically actionable timeframe.

1 TEST. 22 PATHOGENS. 1 HOUR
The mean diagnostic yield for the FilmArray GI Panel is 52%. This results in approximately a 3-fold increase in diagnostic yield over traditional diagnostic methods.

FAST AND ACCURATE RESULTS CAN IMPROVE INFECTION CONTROL
In a study conducted by the University of Florida, 22% of patients who tested negative for C. difficile and/or rotavirus by single analyte testing had a pathogen identified by the FilmArray GI Panel when tested retrospectively. Among the patients that tested negative by single analyte testing methods, 60% of them had not been effectively isolated. Additionally, of patients tested with a negative result on the FilmArray GI Panel, 25% could have been removed from isolation.

WHOULD SHOULD BE TESTED WITH THE FILMARRAY GI PANEL?
Patients with signs and/or symptoms of gastrointestinal infection, including:

Patients at high risk of spreading disease:

Daycare attendees and workers

Nursing home residents and workers

Food Handlers

Military personnel
Patients requiring hospitalization

Patients with:
Dysentery
Moderate to severe disease
Symptons lasting >7 days

Infants
Elderly
Immunocompromised

FILMARRAY GI PANEL PATHOGENS

BACTERIA
Campylobacter (jejuni, coli, and upsaliensis)
Clostridium difficile (toxin A/B) Plesiomonas
shigelloides
Salmonella*
Yersinia enterocolitica
Vibrio (cholerae, parahaemolyticus, and vulnificus)*
Vibrio cholerae*

DIARRHEAGENIC E. COLI/SHIGELLA
Enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC)
Enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC)
Enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) lt/st
Shiga-like toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) stx1/stx2*
E. coli 0157
Shigella/Enteroinvasive E. coli (EIEC)*

PARASITES
Cryptospridium*
Cyclospora cayetanensis*
Entamoeba histolytica
Giardia lamblia*

VIRUSES
Adenovirus F40/41
Astrovirus
Norovirus GI/GII
Rotavirus A
Sapovirus (I, II, IV, and V)