The assessment of data sources for influenza virologic surveillance in New York State

Escuyer, Kay L.; Waters, Christine L.; Gowie, Donna L.; Maxted, Angie M.; Farrell, Gregory M.; Fuschino, Meghan E.; St. George, Kirsten

While PHLs including Wadsworth use the CDC influenza rtRT-PCR panel to detect and subtype influenza viruses, clinical laboratories use a variety of testing methods, which may or may not include subtyping. The majority of influenza molecular assays generate results in approximately 1-8 hours and are capable of detecting influenza viruses with very high sensitivity and specificity; some tests also identify subtypes. 9 Growth and isolation of influenza viruses in culture may take 7-14 days or longer, while IVAD kits provide results in 15-30 minutes. 10 Table 1 summarizes 2014 information on testing platforms and assays, the number of licensed clinical laboratories using them in NYS, test complexity, and the influenza types/subtypes and other respiratory pathogens detected.