910 Sensitivity and Specificity of the Rapid Influenza Antigen Test Clearview® Exact Influenza a and B for Pandemic Iunfluenza A/H1N1 (2009)

Abstract

Reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is considered to be the reference test for diagnosis of influenza, because of its high sensitivity and specificity. Rapid Influenza Antigen Test (RIAT) is, however, useful because of its fast response time. Various kinds of RIAT have shown excellent specificity for the diagnosis of pandemic influenza A/H1N1 in adult patients, but their sensitivity was low (30 to 50%). Not many studies have been performed in a paediatric population which is known to have higher viral loads. Therefore, our aim was to compare RIAT Clearview® Exact Influenza A and B to specific RT-PCR in children seen in our Paediatric Emergency Department (PED) for suspected Influenza A H1N1 (2009). Between 1/09 and 1/12/2009, 78 children had nasal swabs sent to a reference Virology Laboratory for Influenza A/H1N1 testing by RT-PCR, while RIAT was simultaneously performed in the PED. The performance of the RIAT Clearview® Exact Influenza A and B was as follows. The overall sensitivity and specificity of the RIAT Clearview® Exact Influenza A and B were 61% and 97%, respectively. Our results confirm the excellent specificity of the RIAT for the pandemic influenza A/H1N1 (2009). Sensitivity seems even higher than reported in previous studies using other kinds of RIAT in adults. A positive RIAT allows a rapid and adequate treatment including isolation measures, whereas a negative test does not rule out pandemic influenza.