It's Not Always IBD: Infectious Causes for Gastrointestinal Illness

The symptoms of infectious gastroenteritis can be very similar to the symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which is a disorder of the large intestine. Some of the overlapping symptoms include cramping, abdominal pain, bloating, and diarrhea. Because of the similarities, it can be difficult to distinguish between an IBD flare-up and infectious gastroenteritis without laboratory testing.

That's why it's important for clinicians to consider infectious causes, even when an IBD flare-up is suspected. A gastrointestinal infection may worsen symptoms for those already experiencing chronic IBD. And chronic IBD may mask a serious underlying infection that proper treatment could help alleviate.

The Syndromic Approach to Infectious Disease Testing

Traditional stool testing methods are slow and lack sensitivity. Stool culture can take two or three days for results, while ova and parasite exams can take a day or two. On top of that, clinicians must often guess at which pathogens to even test for with traditional gastrointestinal testing.

Syndromic testing can help clinicians get to the bottom of concerning gastrointestinal symptoms faster. Syndromic testing targets a broad grouping of probable pathogens in one quick multiplex PCR test. The BIOFIRE^® FILMARRAY^® Gastrointestinal (GI) Panel identifies 22 common gastrointestinal pathogens with results in about an hour.

Fast answers on a comprehensive gastrointestinal panel can help clinicians make timely and targeted treatment decisions. And if no infectious causes are detected, clinicians may be more confident in further investigating IBD.

Identifying Infectious Causes

Enteric infections are not uncommon for those with IBD and can easily be mistaken for a flare-up. One study found that the BIOFIRE GI Panel helped identify infectious causes in 26.8% of IBD patients.¹ Another study found that there was no difference in clinical presentation between an infection and an IBD flare-up; additionally there was no difference in endoscopic and histologic findings.² For these reasons, differentiating between a flare-up and infection requires identification of the potential infectious etiology.

Comprehensive results from a multiplex PCR test can help clinicians make appropriate and targeted treatment decisions. IBD patients who tested negative with the BIOFIRE GI Panel were more likely to have their IBD therapy escalated.²

The Benefits of Gastrointestinal PCR Testing

When patients present with gastrointestinal symptoms, it's important for clinicians to consider all possible causes—including bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Infectious disease testing with a comprehensive gastrointestinal panel can help gastroenterologists, infectious disease physicians, and other clinicians get patients on the right treatment sooner. The BIOFIRE GI Panel has been shown to:

Reduce time to results by 84%⁴
Increase diagnostic yield by 31.5%⁵
Increase targeted therapy by 41%³
Reduce antibiotic use by 11%⁶
Decrease downstream procedures such as X-rays, ultrasounds, CT scans, and endoscopies^3,6

An Onsite GI Solution

Syndromic GI testing with a real-time PCR system also offers benefits to onsite clinics like urgent care centers, pediatric clinics, and family practice clinics. In addition to fast results that enable timely, targeted treatment decisions, the BIOFIRE GI Panel may help improve patient satisfaction by facilitating onsite testing and providing patients with fast answers. The BIOFIRE GI Panel reduces unnecessary testing and antibiotic use, which may impact healthcare costs for clinics and patients alike.^3,6

The BIOFIRE GI Panel is intended to be run on the BIOFIRE^® FILMARRAY^® Torch in CLIA-moderate settings.