Abstract
Acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in paediatric patients. Therefore, early detection of the viral aetiologies of ARTIs is essential for patient management and infection control. In this study, we evaluated the performance of a new multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay (xTAG Respiratory Viral Panel [RVP] Fast v2) in the detection of respiratory viruses by comparing it with that of viral culture and direct immunofluorescence (IF) staining. Nasopharyngeal swab and aspirate samples were collected prospectively from 199 patients who presented with ARTIs at the University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia during a 10-month period. The PCR assay was conducted in parallel with conventional culture and direct IF staining methods. The positive rate of the xTAG RVP Fast v2 assay (78.4%) in detecting respiratory viruses was higher than that of the viral isolation (7.5%) and direct IF (23.1%) methods. Using the xTAG RVP Fast v2 assay, human enterovirus/human rhinovirus (HEV/HRV) was the most frequently detected (46.2%). The xTAG RVP Fast v2 assay revealed mixed infection caused by two or three respiratory viruses in 40 specimens, and these were undetected by the viral isolation and direct IF methods. The xTAG RVP Fast v2 assay was superior to conventional methods in the identification of common respiratory viruses, with higher sensitivity and shorter turnaround times for laboratory results.
Highlights
Acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in paediatric patients
Five to eight respiratory viruses are detected in paediatric patients every year (5, 6)
These viruses are well-known causes of acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs), which are a major source of morbidity and mortality in infants and young children (7)
Summary
Acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in paediatric patients. Early detection of the viral aetiologies of ARTIs is essential for patient management and infection control. Viral respiratory infections mainly affect children under 5 years (1, 2), elderly adults and immunocompromised patients (3, 4). Five to eight respiratory viruses are detected in paediatric patients every year (5, 6). These viruses are well-known causes of acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs), which are a major source of morbidity and mortality in infants and young children (7). The diagnosis of viral respiratory infections relies on four different techniques: a) virus isolation in cell cultures, b) antigen detection, c) antibody detection (serology) and d) nucleic acid-based molecular methods (9–11).
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