GI Effects Infection Score Test

The Infection Score summarizes whether there is evidence of infection or overgrowth with potentially harmful organisms in your gut. It integrates information from multiple methods, culture, PCR (DNA-based testing), and microscopy, to detect bacterial pathogens, yeast or fungal overgrowth, and parasites. It may also consider related markers that suggest tissue irritation or microscopic bleeding when relevant.

Why it matters

Pathogenic and opportunistic organisms can directly damage the gut lining, trigger inflammation, and disrupt the microbiome. They may cause obvious symptoms like diarrhea, cramping, bloating, or urgency, but they can also present more subtly, with fatigue, nutrient deficiencies, or “IBS-like” symptoms. Chronic or recurrent infections and overgrowths can make it difficult to fully heal the gut or normalize other scores (like inflammation or dysbiosis) until they are addressed.

What a higher score suggests

A higher Infection Score indicates stronger evidence for current infection or clinically significant overgrowth. This does not always mean an emergency, but it raises the likelihood that targeted antimicrobial treatment, herbal or pharmaceutical, may be helpful. The specific organism(s), your symptoms, and your overall health guide the treatment plan. In most cases, therapy includes not only addressing the infection itself but also repairing the gut barrier, supporting the microbiome (so healthy bacteria can “reclaim territory”), and revisiting diet, stress, and other lifestyle factors that influence gut resilience and susceptibility to future infections.