title: Rapid diagnosis of influenza: an evaluation of two commercially available RT-PCR assays.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of influenza virus detection by two commercial reverse transcriptase PCR methods compared with a reference real-time PCR.
  
  
  METHODS
  122 clinical specimens were tested on Xpert(®) Flu and RealStar(®) Influenza Screen & Type. A reference real-time RT-PCR, at a specialist laboratory was chosen as the gold standard for comparison.
  
  
  RESULTS
  RealStar(®) Influenza Screen & Type had higher sensitivity for influenza A and influenza B respectively (92.3% and 88.2%) when compared to Xpert(®) Flu (78.8% and 76.5%). Both tests had excellent specificity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The simplicity and speed of the Xpert(®) Flu system could allow it to be used in the near-patient setting; however in circumstances where excluding a diagnosis of influenza may be critical, negative specimens may need to be repeated using a more sensitive assay.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, City Hospital, Birmingham, United Kingdom. mark.li@nhs.net
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Nigel
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Brenwald
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bonigal
authors.forename: Kulvir
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chana
authors.forename: Husam
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Osman
authors.forename: Beryl
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Oppenheim
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D025202:Molecular Diagnostic Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D009975:Orthomyxoviridae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014773:Virology / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult