title: Prompt detection of influenza A and B viruses using the BD Veritor™ System Flu A+B, Quidel® Sofia® Influenza A+B FIA, and Alere BinaxNOW® Influenza A&B compared to real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).
abstract: The performance characteristics of rapid influenza diagnostic tests vary widely. This study evaluated the BD Veritor™ System Flu A+B (Veritor; BD Diagnostics, Sparks, MD, USA), Quidel® Sofia® Influenza A+B FIA (Sofia; Quidel Corp., San Diego, CA, USA), and Alere BinaxNOW® Influenza A&B (Binax; Alere Scarborough, Inc., Scarborough, ME, USA) compared to reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for detection of influenza viruses in nasal wash specimens from 240 pediatric patients. Positive percent agreements for influenza A and B virus detection were 93.8% and 94.2%, 95.8% and 98.1%, and 79.2% and 80.8% for Veritor, Sofia, and Binax, respectively. The Veritor and Binax tests demonstrated negative percent agreements >97.9% for detection of both influenza viruses, but the negative percent agreement of the Sofia test was 91.1% for influenza A and 70.7% for influenza B virus. Overall, the Veritor and Sofia tests were nearly as sensitive as RT-PCR and considerably more sensitive than Binax for detection of influenza viruses. However, the accuracy of the Sofia test was significantly lower than either Veritor or Binax.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Cook Children's Medical Center, Fort Worth, TX 76104, USA. Electronic address: Jim.Dunn@cookchildrens.org.
authors.forename: Jim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dunn
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Cook Children's Medical Center, Fort Worth, TX 76104, USA.
authors.forename: Joy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Obuekwe
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Cook Children's Medical Center, Fort Worth, TX 76104, USA.
authors.forename: Traci
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Baun
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Cook Children's Medical Center, Fort Worth, TX 76104, USA.
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rogers
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Cook Children's Medical Center, Fort Worth, TX 76104, USA.
authors.forename: Twinkle
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Cook Children's Medical Center, Fort Worth, TX 76104, USA.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Snow
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D009980:Influenza A virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D009981:Influenza B virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000821:virology*; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic / Q000821:virology*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013997:Time Factors; D057188:Workflow
chemical_list: D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic
keywords: Influenza viruses; RT-PCR; Rapid diagnostics; Workflow analysis