title: Timely diagnosis of respiratory tract infections: evaluation of the performance of the Respifinder assay compared to the xTAG respiratory viral panel assay.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Respiratory tract infections are the most common cause of hospitalization in infants and young children and are typically caused by viral or, less commonly, bacterial pathogens. Existing non-molecular diagnostic methods have several drawbacks such as limited sensitivity, long turn-a-round time and limited number of pathogens that can be detected.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Nucleic acid amplification methods can increase sensitivity and enable the initiation of appropriate interventions without delay. Broad-spectrum detection and identification circumvent the use of individual diagnostic DNA or RNA based assays. At present, several commercial assays are available for broad-spectrum detection.
  
  
  METHODS
  We compared the performance of the xTAG Respiratory Viral Panel (RVP) (Luminex Molecular Diagnostics, Toronto, Canada) with that of the Respifinder (Pathofinder, Maastricht, Netherlands) for 9 external quality assurance (EQA) panels (QCMD, Scotland) consisting of a total of 106 EQA samples.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both the RVP and the Respifinder assay have an excellent specificity. Sensitivity was 33% and 78% for the RVP and the Respifinder assay, respectively. For both assays, sensitivity was low for weak positive samples.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of our study seem to indicate a better sensitivity for the Respifinder. Analysis of patient samples is necessary to evaluate the clinical performance.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Laboratory, Jessa Hospital, Site Virga Jesse, Stadsomvaart 11, B-3500 Hasselt, Belgium. marijke.raymaekers@jessazh.be
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Raymaekers
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: de Rijke
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Pauli
authors.forename: A-M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Van den Abeele
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cartuyvels
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D025202:Molecular Diagnostic Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014773:Virology / Q000379:methods*; D014777:Virus Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014780:Viruses / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic