Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Jun 8;16(6):e61979.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.61979. eCollection 2024 Jun.

Gastrointestinal Panel Performance for the Diagnosis of Acute Gastroenteritis in Pediatric Patients

Marwa Sameer  1 , Abdulrahman Masood  2 , Lateefa Almutawea  1 , Gabriel Fox  1 , Ramaning Loni  1 , Amira Ahmed  3 , Hadhami Ben Turkia  1 , Maryam Abdulsamad  3 , Imelda Mary  1
Affiliations

Gastrointestinal Panel Performance for the Diagnosis of Acute Gastroenteritis in Pediatric Patients

Marwa Sameer et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Background: Various methods are used to identify the causative organisms of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in children. The gastrointestinal (GI) panel has the potential to detect up to 22 pathogens rapidly through the multiplex real-time PCR test. We studied the impact of the GI panel on clinical management in the pediatric population.

Methods: A retrospective study was conducted to collect data on GI panel results and clinical details of inpatient children presenting with AGE at King Hamad University Hospital, Kingdom of Bahrain, over the course of one year.

Results: One hundred nine samples were collected. The GI panel was positive in 96 samples (88.1%), with the majority detected in the toddler age group. Forty-one (42.7%) samples were positive for at least one organism. Salmonella was the most frequently encountered bacteria as a single isolate, 10/55 (18.2%), while enteropathogenic Escherichia coli was the most common co-infected organism, 16/41 (39%). Norovirus was the most common virus among the viruses. Bacterial detection peaked from July to October, while viral detection plateaued throughout the year. The GI panel and stool culture were positive for the same organism in 17 samples, versus one sample with a different organism. Sixty-two (56.9%) samples had a positive GI panel but negative stool cultures and stool analysis, and half of those detected viruses. The GI panel was positive in 86.2% of severely ill patients; the majority were bacteria. Bacterial detection was associated with a higher CRP compared to viruses.

Conclusion: The GI panel is an informative tool for detecting the causative pathogen of AGE in children. However, it can detect multiple organisms, indicating a possible carrier status, which points toward future studies.

Keywords: acute diarrhea in children; bacterial and viral agents; enteric bacteria; gastroenteritis; gastrointestinal panel; stool analysis; stool culture.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Human subjects: Consent was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Institutional Review Board at King Hamad University Hospital issued approval 20-326. Animal subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve animal subjects or tissue. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Number of organisms detected as a single infection and co-infection
EAEC: enteroaggregative Escherichia coli, EPEC: enteropathogenic Escherichia coli, ETEC: enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, EIEC: enteroinvasive Escherichia coli, STEC: Shiga-like toxin-producing Escherichia coli
Figure 2
Figure 2. AGE causative organism distribution throughout the year
AGE: acute gastroenteritis
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Diarrheal disease (2017, May 2) Diarrheal Disease. [ Feb; 2024 ]. 2017. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/diarrhoeal-disease https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/diarrhoeal-disease
    1. Quality improvements in management of children with acute diarrhea using a multiplex-PCR-based gastrointestinal pathogen panel. Yoo IH, Kang HM, Suh W, et al. Diagnostics (Basel) 2021;11:1175. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Spectrum of enteropathogens detected by the FilmArray GI Panel in a multicentre study of community-acquired gastroenteritis. Spina A, Kerr KG, Cormican M, et al. Clin Microbiol Infect. 2015;21:719–728. - PubMed
    1. Causative pathogens of severe diarrhea in children. Ismaeel AY, Jamsheer AE, Yousif AQ, Al-Otaibi MA, Botta GA. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12370713/ Saudi Med J. 2002;23:1064–1069. - PubMed
    1. Multiplex molecular panels for diagnosis of gastrointestinal infection: performance, result interpretation, and cost-effectiveness. Binnicker MJ. J Clin Microbiol. 2015;53:3723–3728. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources