2148. Performance of the BioFire FilmArray Gastrointestinal Panel in a Clinical Setting of Infectious Diarrhea

BACKGROUND: Infectious diarrhea remains as one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide among all age groups. Conventional methods for diagnosis are time consuming and expensive. The BioFire FilmArray gastrointestinal panel (FA-GIP) tests for 22 enteric pathogens, provides results in a few hours and improves healthcare costs. The impact on antibiotic stewardship is unknown. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort, multi-center study to evaluate FA-GIP clinical performance in hospitalized patients with acute diarrhea. Patients from 3 hospitals from the Christus Muguerza health group were included between January 2017 and August 2018. The FA-GIP was ordered by the treating physician and was not influenced by the study. Duration of antibiotic therapy, length of hospital stay, and therapy modification were assessed. The comparison group consisted of patients with acute diarrhea in which no FA-GIP was ordered. RESULTS: Data from 130 patients with FA-GIP and 107 patients with conventional methods were collected. Pathogens were detected by FA-GIP in 72.3% of the cases. The median of duration of antibiotic therapy in FA-GIP group was 5 days (IQR 0–8) vs. 3 days (IQR 0–6) in conventional methods group, (P < 0.05). The mean length of stay was 3.3(SD ± 2.4) in FA-GIP group vs. 1.9 (SD ± 1.0) in the control group (P < 0.05). Patients in FA-GIP group had more days with diarrhea, lower hemoglobin levels, and higher creatinine levels at admission (Table 1). The most frequent pathogens detected were enteropathogenic Escherichia coli in 24.4%, norovirus in 19.1%, Clostridium difficile in 17.0% and Campylobacter jejuni in 15.9% (Table 2). Therapy modification after FA-GIP results was made in 51.1% of the patients with a detected pathogen, and in 42.8% of patients with no pathogen detected in FA-GIP the antibiotic was stopped. CONCLUSION: Patients in the FA-GIP group had a more complex clinical scenario upon admission, they also had a longer duration of antibiotic therapies and longer length of stay. Although antibiotic therapy was positively influenced by the FA-GIP result, and no pathogen detection leads to withdrawal of unnecessary antibiotics. [Image: see text] [Image: see text] DISCLOSURES: All authors: No reported disclosures.