Evaluation of the molecular Xpert Xpress Flu/RSV assay versus Alere i Influenza A & B assay for rapid detection of influenza viruses

Publication date: Available online 24 November 2017
Source:Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease
Author(s): JH Chen, HY Lam, CC Yip, VC Cheng, JF Chan, TH Leung, S Sridhar, KH Chan, BS Tang, KY Yuen
A new FDA-approved Xpert Xpress Flu/RSV assay has been released for rapid influenza virus detection. We collected 134 nasopharyngeal specimens to compare the diagnostic performance of the Xpert assay and the Alere i Influenza A & B assay for influenza A and B viruses detection. The Xpert assay demonstrated 100% and 96.3% sensitivity to influenza A and influenza B virus respectively. Its specificity was 100% for both viruses. The Alere i assay demonstrated slightly lower sensitivity but similar specificity to the Xpert Xpress assay. Although the Xpert assay (30 mins) required longer processing time than the Alere assay (15 mins), the handling procedure of the Alere assay was more complicated than the Xpert assay. As the GenXpert system has higher throughput than the Alere system, it is more suitable for hospital clinical laboratories. Overall, the new Xpert Xpress Flu/RSV assay is a reliable and useful tool for rapid influenza detection.



from ! ORL Sfakianakis via paythelady.61 on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2ADWTbA
via IFTTT