Evaluation of a culture-independent gastrointestinal multiplex PCR panel for detection of gastrointestinal pathogens detection of gastrointestinal pathogens

Objective: All across the world, gastrointestinal (GI) infections are an important cause of morbidity and mortality, especially in young children, patients in intensive care units, and patients with weakened immune systems. In this study we aimed to assess the Gastroenteritis RT-qPCR MX-24T Panel's utility as a standard technique for identifying gastrointestinal pathogens. Methods: In this study, 76 stool samples from intensive care patients were tested for bacterial, viral, and parasitic pathogens using the Bio-Speedy® Gastroenteritis RT-qPCR MX-24T Panel kit. Results: In this study, 31 out of 76 samples gave positive results. Eight bacterial (Salmonella spp., Campylobacter spp., Shigella/Enteroinvasive Escherichia coli (EIEC), Enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC), Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), Enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC), Enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC), and Clostridium difficile binary toxin A/B), three viral (Astrovirus, Norovirus (GI/GII and Rotavirus (A)) and two parasitic (Cryptosporidium spp., and Giardia lamblia) agents were detected from the stool samples of intensive care patients. While only a single agent was detected in the 22 samples, multiple agents were detected in 9 (30%). The most detected agent was EAEC (n=11), followed by Campylobacter spp. (n=7). EAEC and Campylobacter spp. were detected in 3 samples with multiple agents. Conclusion: The GI panel can minimize the need for additional diagnostic testing and unnecessary antibiotic use by rapidly identifying a wide range of infections detectable only by molecular methods, as well as agents detectable by traditional conventional diagnostic methods. In this way, it may lead to a shorter hospital stay. In addition, we think that further studies should be conducted to determine whether the simultaneous detection of multiple pathogens in a sample in our study is clinically important.