title: Evaluation of the Alere I influenza A&B nucleic acid amplification test by use of respiratory specimens collected in viral transport medium.
abstract: The Alere i Influenza A&B assay is a newly developed rapid molecular assay which has the potential to generate results within 15 min from sample collection. In this study, we evaluated the Alere i Influenza A&B assay by using salvaged frozen respiratory specimens that were collected in viral transport medium from children ages 10 months to 19 years. Alere i Influenza A&B assay test results were compared with viral culture and ProFlu(+) real-time reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) assay results. We found that the overall sensitivity and specificity of the Alere i Influenza A&B assay were 93.3% and 94.5% for the detection of influenza A virus and 100% and 100% for the detection of influenza B virus, respectively, compared to viral culture. In comparison to ProFlu(+) real-time RT-PCR, overall sensitivity and specificity of the Alere i Influenza A&B assay for the detection of influenza A virus were 88.8% and 98.3% and 100% and 100% for detecting influenza B virus. Overall, the Alere i Influenza A&B assay performed well compared to either virus cell culture or RT-PCR.
authors.affiliation: Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics, Kansas City, Missouri, USA University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, Kansas City, Missouri, USA.
authors.forename: J Jeremiah
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.affiliation: Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics, Kansas City, Missouri, USA University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, Kansas City, Missouri, USA rselvarangan@cmh.edu.
authors.forename: Rangaraj
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Selvarangan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; 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; D008297:Male; D025202:Molecular Diagnostic Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D021141:Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000379:methods*; D014776:Virus Cultivation / Q000379:methods; D055815:Young Adult