Master Gastro (GI) Pathogens

Master Gastro (GI) Pathogens Dubai – Comprehensive Stool Analysis at Home

Vesta Care's Master Gastro (GI) Pathogens delivers the most extensive gastrointestinal pathogen screening available in Dubai, detecting 25 bacterial, viral, and parasitic organisms through convenient at-home stool sample collection. This advanced molecular diagnostic panel identifies the complete spectrum of pathogens causing diarrhea, food poisoning, traveler's illness, and persistent gastrointestinal infections—providing physicians with precise identification essential for targeted treatment and appropriate public health response.

At AED 750, this comprehensive test eliminates diagnostic uncertainty when gastrointestinal symptoms emerge. Bacteria are the most common cause of traveler's diarrhea, thought to account for 75-90% of cases, with viruses accounting for at least 10-25% of illnesses and protozoal pathogens accounting for approximately 10%. Our DHA-licensed healthcare professionals provide home stool collection kits with discreet service, and results arrive within 48 hours identifying which specific pathogen or pathogens caused your infection.

Why Comprehensive GI Testing Matters

There are more than 250 specific types of food poisoning, with some of the most common causes including Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria, and Shigella. Gastrointestinal symptoms—nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain—appear nearly identical regardless of causative pathogen, making accurate identification through symptoms alone impossible.

This 25-pathogen panel solves critical diagnostic challenges: distinguishing bacterial infections requiring antibiotics from viral infections needing only supportive care, identifying parasitic causes requiring specific antiparasitic medications, detecting dangerous pathogens like Vibrio cholerae or Shiga-toxin producing E. coli requiring immediate intervention, and confirming outbreak-associated organisms necessitating public health notification. Accurate identification prevents inappropriate treatment, ensures effective therapy selection, and enables appropriate isolation protocols.

Complete Pathogen Coverage

Bacterial Pathogens (15):

Clostridium difficile Toxin A/B: Detects toxins produced by C. difficile causing antibiotic-associated diarrhea and pseudomembranous colitis. This hospital-acquired bacterium causes severe watery diarrhea, abdominal cramping, fever, and life-threatening colitis particularly after antibiotic courses disrupting normal intestinal flora, requiring immediate cessation of inciting antibiotics and specific treatment with vancomycin or fidaxomicin.

Enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC): One of several diarrhea-causing E. coli strains producing persistent watery diarrhea especially in children and travelers. EAEC causes chronic diarrhea lasting weeks, dehydration, and growth impairment in children through mucosal adherence patterns, requiring supportive care and sometimes antibiotics for severe persistent cases.

Enteroinvasive E. coli (EIEC): Causes invasive intestinal infection similar to Shigella with bloody diarrhea, fever, and severe cramping. This pathogenic E. coli invades intestinal epithelial cells producing inflammatory diarrhea with blood and mucus, requiring supportive care and consideration of antibiotics for severe cases.

Enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC): Common cause of infantile diarrhea in developing regions producing watery diarrhea through intestinal attachment. EPEC particularly affects infants and young children causing prolonged diarrhea, vomiting, and dehydration requiring oral or intravenous rehydration therapy.

Enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC): The most common pathogen identified in traveler's diarrhea, producing toxins causing massive secretory diarrhea. ETEC causes sudden watery diarrhea, cramping, and low-grade fever through heat-labile and heat-stable enterotoxins, typically resolving within 3-5 days with hydration though antibiotics may shorten duration in severe cases.

Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli (STEC stx1/stx2): Detects dangerous E. coli strains producing Shiga toxins causing hemorrhagic colitis and potentially fatal hemolytic uremic syndrome. These toxin-producing bacteria cause severe bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and can progress to kidney failure especially in children and elderly, requiring immediate medical attention, supportive care, and avoidance of antibiotics which may worsen toxin release.

Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli O157:H7: The most notorious STEC strain causing severe foodborne illness outbreaks. O157:H7 produces severe abdominal cramps, bloody diarrhea, and high rates of hemolytic uremic syndrome in children, requiring hospitalization, careful fluid management, and public health investigation of contaminated food sources.

Helicobacter pylori: Causes chronic gastritis, peptic ulcers, and increases gastric cancer risk through persistent stomach colonization. This spiral-shaped bacterium produces upper GI symptoms including pain, nausea, and indigestion, requiring combination antibiotic therapy with proton pump inhibitors for eradication preventing ulcer recurrence and cancer development.

Campylobacter spp: One of the most common bacterial causes of gastroenteritis worldwide producing inflammatory diarrhea. Campylobacter causes bloody diarrhea, severe cramping, fever, and can trigger reactive arthritis or Guillain-Barré syndrome, usually self-limiting though antibiotics benefit severe or prolonged cases.

Salmonella spp: The most common cause of food poisoning in the United States, also causing the most hospitalizations and deaths from foodborne illness. Salmonella produces sudden nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps typically resolving in 4-7 days, though severe cases require antibiotics and elderly or immunocompromised patients face bloodstream infection risks.

Shigella spp: Causes bacillary dysentery with severe bloody diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramping through intestinal invasion. Highly contagious requiring only small inoculum, Shigella spreads rapidly in close-contact settings, requires antibiotic treatment reducing transmission duration, and mandates public health reporting and contact investigation.

Vibrio cholerae: Causes cholera producing massive "rice-water" diarrhea with rapid dehydration and potential death if untreated. This waterborne bacterium causes profuse watery diarrhea through enterotoxin production, requires immediate aggressive rehydration therapy, antibiotics shortening illness duration, and immediate public health notification for outbreak control.

Vibrio parahaemolyticus: Marine-associated Vibrio causing acute gastroenteritis from undercooked seafood. Produces watery to bloody diarrhea, cramping, nausea, vomiting, and fever typically resolving within days, though severe cases benefit from antibiotic treatment.

Vibrio vulnificus: The most dangerous Vibrio species causing severe wound infections and septicemia in addition to gastroenteritis. Particularly lethal in patients with liver disease or immunocompromise, requiring immediate aggressive antibiotic therapy and surgical intervention for wound infections.

Plesiomonas shigelloides: Water-associated bacterium causing diarrheal illness particularly in tropical regions and travelers. Produces watery to bloody diarrhea, nausea, and abdominal pain usually self-limiting though antibiotics benefit severe or prolonged cases.

Yersinia enterocolitica: Causes enterocolitis with fever, diarrhea, and severe abdominal pain mimicking appendicitis. Common in children producing mesenteric lymphadenitis, this bacterium occasionally causes reactive arthritis, requires antibiotics for severe cases, and demands public health reporting.

Viral Pathogens (5):

Adenovirus (F40/41): Enteric adenovirus strains causing gastroenteritis primarily in young children. These viruses produce prolonged diarrhea lasting 1-2 weeks, vomiting, and low-grade fever, requiring supportive care with careful hydration management.

Astrovirus: Common cause of mild gastroenteritis in children and elderly producing watery diarrhea. Astrovirus causes self-limited illness with vomiting, abdominal pain, and fever lasting 2-3 days, requiring only supportive hydration therapy.

Norovirus Genogroup I & II: Highly contagious virus causing outbreaks in close-contact settings such as daycare centers, nursing homes, and cruise ships. Norovirus produces sudden violent vomiting, watery diarrhea, and cramping lasting 1-3 days, spreads extremely easily through contaminated food and surfaces, requires strict isolation and hand hygiene, and causes significant morbidity in vulnerable populations.

Rotavirus-A: Causes severe dehydrating diarrhea in infants and young children, with infection nearly universal by age 3. Rotavirus produces acute vomiting followed by watery diarrhea, fever, and severe dehydration potentially requiring hospitalization for intravenous fluids, preventable through routine vaccination now included in infant immunization schedules.

Sapovirus (I, II, IV, V): Calicivirus causing gastroenteritis similar to norovirus but generally milder. Sapovirus affects all ages producing watery diarrhea, vomiting, and mild symptoms lasting 1-4 days with self-limited course requiring supportive care only.

Parasitic Pathogens (4):

Giardia lamblia: Common protozoal pathogen causing persistent diarrhea with longer incubation periods of 1-2 weeks. This intestinal parasite causes prolonged watery diarrhea, gas, bloating, malabsorption, and weight loss lasting weeks to months without treatment, acquired from contaminated water, requiring specific antiparasitic therapy with metronidazole or tinidazole.

Cryptosporidium spp: Waterborne protozoan parasite causing profuse watery diarrhea especially dangerous in immunocompromised individuals. Cryptosporidium resists chlorination making it a common swimming pool and water supply contaminant, produces self-limited illness in healthy individuals but life-threatening chronic diarrhea in HIV/AIDS patients, requiring specific antiparasitic treatment with nitazoxanide.

Entamoeba histolytica: Causes amoebic dysentery with bloody diarrhea and potential liver abscess formation. This invasive parasite produces colitis with blood and mucus, severe cramping, and can disseminate causing amoebic liver abscesses requiring combination antiparasitic therapy with metronidazole followed by luminal agents.

Cyclospora cayetanensis: Protozoal pathogen with symptoms presenting quickly (2-14 days), unusual for protozoal infections. Cyclospora causes prolonged watery diarrhea, loss of appetite, weight loss, bloating, and fatigue lasting weeks to months without treatment, associated with contaminated produce, requiring specific treatment with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole.

Who Needs This Comprehensive Test

This 25-pathogen panel serves individuals with gastrointestinal symptoms requiring definitive diagnosis: acute diarrhea with fever suggesting bacterial infection, persistent diarrhea lasting beyond one week, bloody diarrhea indicating invasive pathogens, severe symptoms with dehydration, or immunocompromised patients at high complication risk. Travelers returning with persistent symptoms, outbreak-associated cases, and healthcare workers with diarrheal illness benefit from comprehensive identification.

The Home Testing Process

Vesta Care provides discreet professional stool specimen collection throughout Dubai. Our home collection kit includes clear instructions and proper collection containers. You collect your stool sample privately, seal it in the provided container, and our healthcare professional retrieves it during scheduled pickup.

Your sealed sample reaches our certified laboratory where advanced PCR technology simultaneously detects all 25 pathogens. Results arrive within 48 hours via secure communication, clearly identifying which pathogen or pathogens caused your infection and enabling immediate appropriate treatment.

Treatment Guidance

Test results enable precise treatment decisions. Bacterial pathogen identification guides appropriate antibiotic selection—fluoroquinolones for Campylobacter or Salmonella in severe cases, specific therapy for C. difficile, avoidance of antibiotics for STEC preventing toxin release. Viral detection confirms self-limited illness requiring only supportive care. Parasitic identification necessitates specific antiparasitic medications—metronidazole for Giardia and Entamoeba, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole for Cyclospora.

Results also inform public health response—detection of cholera, Shigella, or STEC O157:H7 triggers mandatory reporting and outbreak investigation. Identification enables appropriate isolation protocols preventing transmission in households and healthcare settings.

Book Your GI Pathogen Test

Schedule your Master Gastro (GI) Pathogens test through our online platform. We deliver your collection kit, you collect your sample privately, and we arrange convenient pickup. Results reach you within 48 hours—comprehensive, accurate, and treatment-guiding.

At AED 750, Vesta Care delivers Dubai's most complete gastrointestinal pathogen screening, identifying the exact cause of food poisoning, traveler's diarrhea, or persistent GI symptoms. Book now for discreet home service.