Laboratory Detection of Respiratory Viruses by Automated Techniques

Pérez-Ruiz, Mercedes; Pedrosa-Corral, Irene; Sanbonmatsu-Gámez, Sara; Navarro-Marí, José-María

Acute respiratory infection (ARI) of viral aetiology is one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide [1] [2] [3] [4] . Besides classical respiratory viruses (RV), i.e. influenza viruses (Flu), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), human rhinovirus (HRV), parainfluenza virus (PIV) 1-4, adenovirus (ADV), enterovirus (EV) and human coronavirus (HCoV) OC43 and 229E [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] , other "new" RV have currently been added to this list, such as human metapneumovirus (hMPV) [10] , SARS-CoV [11] , HCoV NL63 and HKU1 [12, 13] , human bocavirus (hBoV) [14] and others. Most RV cause benign and self-limited infections in immunocompetent adults. However, clinical impact of ARI increases when they affect children, elderly, immunocompromised individuals and/or subjects with chronic underlying diseases, in whom RV constitute an important cause of hospitalisations, mainly during the cold months of the year [15, 16] . They involve important costs for health systems and constitute a frequent cause of school and work absenteeism. In certain circumstances, emerging RV cause a great impact in health systems worldwide, as occurred with SARS-CoV and Flu pandemics, the last one taking place in 2009. Aetiological diagnosis of viral ARI is crucial in order to avoid unnecessary antibiotic use, to establish the appropriate use of antiviral drugs and a comprehensive cohort of hospitalised patients that minimizes the risk of nosocomial transmission, and to provide epidemiological information for an early release of recommendations for the prevention and *Address correspondence to this author at the Servicio de Microbiología. Hospital Universitario Virgen de las Nieves, Avda. Fuerzas Armadas, 2, 18014 Granada, Spain; Tel: [phone]; E-mail: [e-mail] treatment and, finally, to reduce the overall costs derived from patients´ management.