Evaluation of Alere i RSV for Rapid Detection of Respiratory Syncytial Virus in Children Hospitalized with Acute Respiratory Tract Infection

J Clin Microbiol. 2017 Apr;55(4):1032-1036. doi: 10.1128/JCM.02433-16. Epub 2017 Jan 11.

Abstract

Alere i RSV is a novel rapid test which applies a nicking enzyme amplification reaction to detect respiratory syncytial virus in point-of-care settings. In this study, we evaluated the Alere i RSV assay by using frozen nasopharyngeal swab samples that were collected in viral transport medium from children hospitalized with acute respiratory tract infection during the 2015-2016 winter season. Alere i RSV assay results were compared to those for Altona RealStar RSV real-time reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR). We found that the overall sensitivity and specificity of the Alere i RSV test was 100% (95% confidence intervals [CI], 93% to 100%) and 97% (95% CI, 89% to 100%), respectively. Positive samples were identified within 5 to 7 min from sample collection. Overall, the Alere i RSV test performed well compared to the RT-PCR assay and has the potential to facilitate the detection of RSV in point-of-care settings.

Keywords: Alere i RSV; pediatric infectious disease; point-of-care; rapid tests; respiratory syncytial virus; respiratory tract infection.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Evaluation Study

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Female
  • Hospitalization*
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Male
  • Molecular Diagnostic Techniques / methods*
  • Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques / methods*
  • Point-of-Care Systems*
  • Prospective Studies
  • Respiratory Syncytial Viruses / isolation & purification*
  • Respiratory Tract Infections / diagnosis*
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Time Factors