Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 30, 2025
A High-throughput Platform for the Screening of Salmonella spp./Shigella spp.
Published on: November 7, 2018
Quality Improvements in Management of Children with Acute Diarrhea Using a Multiplex-PCR-Based Gastrointestinal
In Hyuk Yoo1, Hyun Mi Kang1, Woosuk Suh2
1Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 06591, Korea.
Insights
The BioFire FilmArray Gastrointestinal Panel significantly improves diagnosis of acute diarrhea in children, increasing pathogen detection and reducing antibiotic use. This rapid testing aids in better patient management and infection control.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Infectious Diseases
- Clinical Microbiology
- Diagnostic Technology
Background:
- Conventional methods for diagnosing acute gastroenteritis (AGE) are slow and have low diagnostic yield.
- There is a need for improved diagnostic tools to guide patient management and antibiotic stewardship in pediatric AGE.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the impact of the BioFire FilmArray Gastrointestinal Panel (GI Panel) on patient management, antibiotic use, and infection control in children with acute diarrhea.
- To compare the performance of the GI Panel against conventional diagnostic methods.
Main Methods:
- A prospective study enrolled children (<19 years) with new-onset diarrhea, utilizing both the GI Panel and conventional stool testing.
- A historical cohort of children diagnosed with AGE in the preceding four years was used for comparison.
- Data on pathogen detection rates, test turnaround time, and antibiotic utilization were collected and analyzed.
Main Results:
- The GI Panel identified pathogens in 58.3% of community-onset diarrhea cases, significantly higher than conventional methods (42.3%) and the historical cohort (31.4%).
- Test reporting time was substantially reduced with the GI Panel (25 hours) compared to the historical cohort (72 hours).
- Antibiotic use decreased significantly in the prospective cohort (35.3%) compared to the historical cohort (71.8%).
Conclusions:
- The BioFire GI Panel offers significant clinical benefits for pediatric patients with acute diarrhea, including higher pathogen detection rates and faster results.
- Implementation of the GI Panel can lead to reduced antibiotic prescribing and improved infection prevention strategies through timely isolation.
- The rapid and comprehensive diagnostic capabilities of the GI Panel enhance the management of acute infectious diarrhea in children.
Abstract:
Conventional methods for etiologic diagnoses of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) are time consuming and have low positive yield leading to limited clinical value. This study aimed to investigate quality improvements in patient management, antibiotic stewardship, and in-hospital infection transmission prevention using BioFire® FilmArray® Gastrointestinal Panel (GI Panel) in children with acute diarrhea. This was a prospective study recruiting children < 19 years old with new onset diarrhea during the study period, and a matched historical cohort study of children diagnosed with AGE during the 4 years prior. Patients in the prospective cohort underwent stool testing with GI Panel and conventional methods. A total of 182 patients were included in the prospective cohort, of which 85.7% (n = 156) had community-onset and 14.3% (n = 26) had hospital-onset diarrhea. A higher pathogen positivity rate for community-onset diarrhea was observed by the GI Panel (58.3%, n = 91) compared to conventional studies (42.3%, n = 66) (p = 0.005) and historical cohort (31.4%, n = 49) (p < 0.001). The stool tests reporting time after admission was 25 (interquartile range, IQR 17-46) hours for the GI Panel, and 72 (IQR 48-96) hours for the historical cohort (p < 0.001). A significant reduction in antibiotic use was observed in the prospective cohort compared to historical cohort, 35.3% vs. 71.8%; p < 0.001), respectively. Compared to the GI Panel, norovirus ICT was only able to detect 4/11 (36.4%) patients with hospital-onset and 14/27 (51.8%) patients with community-onset diarrhea. The high positivity rate and rapid reporting time of the GI Panel had clinical benefits for children admitted for acute diarrhea, especially by reducing antibiotic use and enabling early adequate infection precaution and isolation.
