EVALUATION OF A MULTIPLEX PANEL FOR RAPID AND COST-EFFECTIVE DIAGNOSIS OF GASTROENTERITIS IN A CAPITAL CITY IN NORTHEAST BRAZIL

Difficulty in etiologic diagnosis of infectious gastroenteritis delays appropriate treatment and impairs patient care. The lack of Brazilian studies on syndromic molecular tests limits the use of faster and more accurate diagnostics. In this context, we evaluated the potential clinical impact and cost-effectiveness of the BioFire FilmArray Gastrointestinal (FAGI) panel compared with standard diagnostic methods (control group) in gastroenteritis cases at an infectious disease’s referral hospital in a capital city in Northeast Brazil, a resource-limited region. Observational, retrospective study including 327 patients ‒ 161 in the FAGI group and 166 in the control group. Data were collected from medical records and analyzed to compare length of hospital stay, number of antimicrobials used per patient, total treatment days and treatment cost. Patients in the FAGI group had a median of 5 fewer days of antimicrobial treatment (median days: 6 vs. 11, p<0.001), an 83% reduction in total antimicrobial costs (median total cost: BRL 4,697 vs. BRL 27,174, p<0.001) and a 77% increase in pathogen detection (median detections: 103 vs. 24, p<0.001) compared with the control group. No differences were observed in length of hospital stay between groups (median days: 12 vs. 13, p=0.44). The FAGI panel was associated with a significant reduction in the duration of antimicrobial treatment and total treatment costs, as well as increased pathogen detection rates. The results suggest that the BioFire panel can offer substantial benefits in terms of patient care and cost savings, highlighting its potential for broader implementation in clinical practice, especially in resource-limited settings, to improve outcomes in the management of infectious gastroenteritis.