The Clinical Significance of FilmArray Respiratory Panel in Diagnosing Community-Acquired Pneumonia

Chen, Huanzhu; Weng, Huilan; Lin, Meirui; He, Ping; Li, Yazhen; Xie, Qingdong; Ke, Changwen; Jiao, Xiaoyang

s been made [24, 25] . The ability to differentiate viral from bacterial pneumonia could have very important significance in patient's management, which may help clinicians treat patients more promptly and appropriately. In hospital, it is not uncommon of mix bacterial-viral coinfections. When bacterial culture identify positive, combining viral infection is frequently ignored by clinician. On the other hand, the decision to prescribe antibiotics may be influenced by the lag of diagnosis; especially in children, empirical antibiotic therapy is almost always initiated in these patients [26] because of their immunocompromised and concerns for severe disease. In previous study, Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a causative agent of community-acquired atypical pneumonia, and Chlamydophila pneumoniae is an obligate intracellular bacterium that causes acute respiratory infections and is a common cause of CAP [27] . We used serological method to detect Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Chlamydia pneumoniae rather than culture. To Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Chlamydia pneumonia detection, culture is highly specific but it is a complex process that has a long turnaround time, technically demanding, and offers limited sensitivity. Serology and PCR methods may provide a rapid diagnosis [28] . The limitations of serologic method include Chlamydia pneumoniae IgM or IgG reactivity might be caused by heterotypic antibodies. The test is evidently unable to discriminate between past and persistent infections [29] . Previously, weak positive results were frequently observed in Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Chlamydia pneumonia detection in our lab; the reason needs further clarification. Comparing the methods mentioned above, FilmArray RP has high specificity and sensitivity and could obtain result in a very short time.