Abstract
BackgroundRespiratory tract infections (RTIs) are the common diseases in children and the routine detection methods frequently fail to identify the infectious pathogens especially for viruses. The Filmarray respiratory panel (FARP) can reliably and rapidly identify viruses and bacteria pathogens. This study is to evaluate the performance and clinical significance of FARP in children.MethodsChildren diagnosed with RTIs in pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) were enrolled in this study. Nasopharyngeal secretion (NPS) samples of these children were collected and the FARP assay for 17 pathogens and routine microbiological methods were performed. Clinical data of all patients was also collected and evaluated.ResultsA total of 90 children were enrolled into this study and 58 patients (64.4%) were positive for 13 pathogens by FARP, with 18 being detected positive with multiple-virus (31.3%, 18/58). Human rhinovirus/enterovirus (21.0%%, 17/58) were the predominant pathogen, followed by adenovirus (18.5%). Higher proportions of various pathogens were identified in the infant and toddler (0–2 years) groups with human rhinovirus/enterovirus being mostly virus. Adenovirus were common in the group aged 3–5 years, but only three pathogens including M.pneumoniae, respiratory syncytial virus, and adenovirus were also found in age group (6–14 years). Among 58 FARP positive patients, significant differences were found in antibiotic prescription and use of glucocorticoid between the single-organism-positive group and the multi-organism-positive group (P < 0.05). Furthermore, there was significant difference in use of anti-virus and usage of glucocorticoid between severe respiratory infections group and non severe respiratory infections group (P < 0.05).ConclusionsThis study demonstrated that FARP can provide the rapid detection of respiratory virus and atypical bacteria for children, especially with severe respiratory tract infections.
Highlights
Respiratory tract infections (RTIs) are the common diseases in children and the routine detection methods frequently fail to identify the infectious pathogens especially for viruses
Adenovirus were common in the group aged 3–5 years, but only three pathogens including M.pneumoniae, respiratory syncytial virus, and adenovirus were found in age group (6–14 years)
A reviewer conducted by Jacobs SE et al demonstrated that with the increasing implementation of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays for respiratory virus detection in clinical practice, the recognition of rhinovirus as a lower respiratory tract pathogen had been facilitated, in patients with asthma, infants, elderly patients, and immunocompromised hosts, and more data had emerged on the high incidence of rhinovirus infection, resulting in the further awareness of the widespread and sometimes serious disease manifestations [17]
Summary
Respiratory tract infections (RTIs) are the common diseases in children and the routine detection methods frequently fail to identify the infectious pathogens especially for viruses. The Filmarray respiratory panel (FARP) can reliably and rapidly identify viruses and bacteria pathogens. As is known to all, culture and antigen/antibody methods are conventional methods to detect infectious pathogens, but their low sensitivity and long turn-around time limits the application in clinical. The FilmArray respiratory panel (FARP) is a multiplexed, fully automated nested PCR assay, which can detect seventeen common respiratory virus and three atypical bacterial pathogens with a turnaround time of approximately 1 h [7]. Previous studies have shown that FARP assay reveals excellent clinical utility over the more traditional laboratory methods of virus culture and direct antigen tests [8,9,10]. The goals of the present study are to retrospectively describe the clinical performance of FARP in children with RTIs and further to characterize the clinical effect of FARP in children with severe conditions
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
