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Acute gastroenteritis (GE) in children is often successfully managed with supportive measures; and while multiplex molecular testing has higher diagnostic yield, its clinical utility remains to be defined. In a prospective study partially funded by the manufacturer of the multiplex PCR panel, investigators enrolled 1157 children with GE (mean age, 4.9 years; 571 in a preintervention group [clinician-based testing] and 586 in an intervention group [stool samples assessed with molecular testing]). Return visits to healthcare providers within 10 days were documented.
During the preintervention period, diagnostic testing was performed in 14.0% of participants and a treatable pathogen was detected in 2.5%. During the intervention period, 627 path…