It is important that you communicate with your physician so that together you can integrate the pertinent information, such as age, ethnicity, health history, signs and symptoms, laboratory and other procedures (radiology, endoscopy, etc. Accessed 7/17/2016.Bush, L.M., MD and Perez, M.T., MD. Generally, Shiga toxin-producing organisms cause bloody diarrhea, although this is not universal. Diarrhea, Bacterial Evaluation. (e.g., E. coli O157:H7) Hotline History N/A Mayo Clinic. The College of American Pathologists (Laboratories should immediately report Shiga toxin--positive specimens to the treating clinician and appropriate public health and infection control officials. Values that are outside expected ranges can provide clues to help identify possible conditions or diseases.While accuracy of laboratory testing has significantly evolved over the past few decades, some lab-to-lab variability can occur due to differences in testing equipment, chemical reagents, and techniques. If agar slants are not available at the submitting laboratory, an acceptable alternative might be a swab that is heavily inoculated with representative growth and placed in transport medium.Not all specimens that test positive for Shiga toxin yield an easily identifiable O157 STEC or non-O157 STEC colony on subculture. [On-line information]. Available online at http://www.merckmanuals.com/home/sec09/ch115/ch115b.html.

Enrichment broths are strongly recommended for the routine diagnostic testing of fecal specimens with nonculture Shiga toxin tests. Their meaning comes from comparison to reference ranges. In clinical settings, for identifying patients at risk for developing severe diseaseShiga toxin--negative variants of O157 STEC detected Sorbitol- fermenting variants of O157 STEC detectedShiga toxin--positive sample available for isolation of STEC within 24 hrs (STEC) testing procedures typically performed by clinical and public health laboratories, by type of laboratory Accessed 7/17/2016. Atkinson, R. M. et al. All Shiga toxin--positive specimens or broths from which no STEC isolate was recovered should be forwarded to the appropriate public health laboratory for isolation and additional testing; shipping of Shiga toxin--positive specimens or broths should not be delayed pending bacterial growth or isolation. Both O157 STEC and O111 STEC have a low infectious dose (<100 organisms) (Prompt and accurate diagnosis of STEC infection is important because appropriate treatment with parenteral volume expansion early in the course of infection might decrease renal damage and improve patient outcome (Most O157 STEC isolates can be readily identified in the laboratory when grown on sorbitol-containing selective media because O157 STEC cannot ferment sorbitol within 24 hours. In U.S. studies, STEC wereEarly diagnosis of STEC infection is important for determining the proper treatment promptly. Accessed 7/17/2016.Huang, J. Y. et al. Clinical laboratories that are considering adding a DNA-based assay to their testing options need to establish performance specifications for the assay as required by CLIA (One commercial immunoassay is available to test for the O157 and H7 antigens in human stools and stool cultures (ImmunoCard STAT! Performing culture for O157 STEC while simultaneously testing for all STEC serotypes is critical. O157 STEC are responsible for most STEC outbreaks and most cases of severe disease; almost all strains have the virulence genes Because of the dynamic nature of the Shiga toxin--converting phages and the potential of decreased diagnostic sensitivity for these pathogens later during infection, future commercial assays that target stable traits might improve diagnostic sensitivity.
Toxin test by EIA A negative result for enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for Shiga toxin suggests that the toxin is not present. World Gastroenterology Organisation practice guideline: Acute diarrhea. Although very sensitive, this method is not routinely used in most clinical microbiology laboratories because the method requires familiarity with tissue culture technique, the availability of cell monolayers, and specific antibodies. The stool or rectal swab may be placed in transport media for delivery to the laboratory.A strain of STEC called O157:H7 is the STEC strain responsible for most gastrointestinal illness outbreaks in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. STFRP : Shiga toxins (also known as Shiga-like toxins, Vero toxins, or Vero-like toxins) are encoded by some strains of Escherichia coli, most notably O157:H7. All O157 STEC isolates and all specimens or enrichment broths in which Shiga toxin is detected but from which O157 STEC bacteria are not recovered should be forwarded to the public health laboratory as soon as possible in compliance with the receiving laboratory's guidelines.