ESTABLISH A NEW STANDARD OF CARE FOR RAPID E. COLI TESTING WITH ImmunoCard STAT!® EHEC

The CDC now recommends that laboratories perform Shiga toxin testing on all stools submitted for routine enteric bacterial testing. Now that testing can be performed with the rapid, easy-to-use, ImmunoCard STAT!® EHEC that is designed to meet your laboratory's needs.

Benefits of ImmunoCard STAT!® EHEC

• High Performance: 93.8% Sensitivity, 99.7% Specificity⁸
• Detects all Shiga toxin-producing E. coli - not just E. coli O157:H7
• Differentiates between Shiga toxin 1 and Shiga toxin 2
• Shiga toxin 2 is associated with an increased risk of HUS

Here's what you need to know about Shiga toxin-producing E. coli

The New CDC Recommendations¹

Laboratories should be using a test that detects all Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC). The best way to identify all STEC infections is to screen all stools submitted for routine enteric bacterial testing for Shiga toxins.

Broth culture testing is preferred over direct stool testing. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5538a3.htm

Antibiotics are Contraindicated

• Antibiotics increase Shiga toxin release and production and should be avoided⁵
• HUS develops in 56% of STEC patients treated with antibiotics⁵
• HUS develops in only 8% of STEC patients not receiving antibiotics⁵

Consequences of Disease

• 38%-61% of patients with STEC infection will develop Hemorrhagic Colitis²
• 5%-10% of patients with STEC infection will develop HUS³
• Approximately 10% of those with HUS will die or have permanent renal failure³

Differential Diagnosis is Critical

• Toxin 2 is associated with an increased risk of HUS³
• Toxin 2 is 1000 fold more toxic to human cells²
• Symptoms of STEC are not well differentiated and may resemble Appendicitis, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Infectious Colitis, and C. difficile Associated Disease⁶
• The presence of blood in stools is a poor predictor of STEC infection because as many as 50% of positive specimens are non-bloody⁴

• Sorbitol MacConkey plates have been shown to be only 50% sensitive for E. coli O157³
• SMAC culture misses as much as half of all O157:H7 and all non-O157 strains of E. coli⁴

• 30%-50% of all STEC infections are caused by E. coli non-O157⁷
• 50% of HUS cases are caused by non-O157 strains of E. coli⁴

References

1. CDC Recommendations for laboratory identification of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), MMWR, September 29, 2006, Vol. 55, No. 28, page 1045.
2. M. Noris and G. Remuzzi, "Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome", Journal of American Society of Nephrology, 2005; 16: 1035-1050.
3. C. Thorpe, "Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli Infection", Clinical Infectious Diseases, 2004; 38: 1298-1303
4. P. Gavin and R. Thomson, "Diagnosis of Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli Infection by Detection of Shiga Toxins", Clinical Microbiology Newsletter, April 1, 2004, Vol. 27, No. 7, pp. 49-54.
5. C. Wong, M.D., et al. "The Risk of the Hemolytic-Uremic Syndrome after Antibiotic Treatment of Escherichia Coli O157:H7 Infection", The New England Journal of Medicine , June 29, 2000, Vol. 342, No. 26, pp. 1930-1936.
6. J. Paton and A. Paton, "Pathogenesis and Diagnosis of Shiga Toxin Producing Escherichia coli Infections", Clinical Microbiology Reviews, July 1998, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 450-479.
7. P. Mead, et al. "Food-Related Illness and Death in the United States", Emerging Infectious Diseases, September-October, 1999, Vol. 5, No. 5, pp. 607-625.