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Comparison of QIAstat-Dx and BioFire FilmArray Gastrointestinal Panels in a Pediatric Population
Mohammed Suleiman1, Muhammad Iqbal1, Patrick Tang1,2
1Department of Pathology, Sidra Medicine, Doha P.O. Box 26999, Qatar.
Insights
The QIAGEN QIAstat-Dx gastrointestinal panel (QGP) accurately detects common causes of gastroenteritis in children. This molecular diagnostic tool shows high agreement with the BioFire FilmArray gastrointestinal panel (BGP), aiding in patient care.
Area of Science:
- Clinical Microbiology
- Molecular Diagnostics
- Pediatric Infectious Diseases
Background:
- Accurate laboratory diagnosis of gastroenteritis is crucial for effective patient management and infection control.
- Molecular diagnostic panels offer rapid and comprehensive detection of enteric pathogens.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the performance of the QIAGEN QIAstat-Dx gastrointestinal panel (QGP) against the bioMerieux BioFire FilmArray gastrointestinal panel (BGP).
- To assess the utility of the QGP for diagnosing gastroenteritis in a pediatric population.
Main Methods:
- A comparative study involving 110 pediatric patients evaluated for gastroenteritis.
- Detection of 23 bacterial, viral, and parasite enteropathogens using both the QGP and BGP.
- Analysis of overall positive percent agreement (PPA) and negative percent agreement (NPA).
Main Results:
- The QGP demonstrated high overall performance with a PPA of 96.2% and an NPA of 99.7% compared to the BGP.
- Results from the QGP were found to be comparable to the BGP in the studied pediatric cohort.
- The PCR cycle threshold (Ct) values from the QGP may serve as an indicator of pathogen load in stool samples.
Conclusions:
- The QIAGEN QIAstat-Dx gastrointestinal panel is a reliable diagnostic tool for pediatric gastroenteritis.
- The QGP offers comparable performance to the established BioFire FilmArray gastrointestinal panel.
- PCR Ct values from the QGP could provide additional clinical insights into pathogen burden.
Abstract:
Accurate laboratory diagnosis of gastroenteritis is important to ensure that patients receive appropriate treatment and proper isolation precautions. This study evaluated the performance of the QIAGEN QIAstat-Dx gastrointestinal panel (QGP) in comparison to the bioMerieux BioFire FilmArray gastrointestinal panel (BGP) for the detection of gastrointestinal pathogens in 110 pediatric patients being evaluated for gastroenteritis at our hospital. We compared 23 different bacterial, viral, and parasite enteropathogens detected by the QGP against the BGP. The overall positive percent agreement (PPA) for all compared targets was 96.2% and the overall negative percent agreement (NPA) for all compared targets was 99.7%. Our study shows that QIAstat-Dx QGP provides comparable results to the BioFire BGP in our pediatric population. Additionally, the PCR cycle threshold (Ct) value reported by the QGP is potentially a helpful tool in estimating the load of the detected pathogen in stool samples.
