Evaluation of a multiplex PCR assay for detection of respiratory viruses and Mycoplasma pneumoniae in oropharyngeal swab samples from outpatients

Zhang, Ying; Cao, Lan; Xu, Zhi; Zhu, Pingting; Huang, Bing; Li, Kuibiao; Xu, Yang; Zhang, Zhoubin; Wu, Yong; Di, Biao

The routine clinical laboratory testing for respiratory viruses is largely conducted by direct fluorescent-antibody assays and rapid antigen tests in China. Given the poor sensitivity and complicated manual operation, these methods have been gradually replaced by nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs), which are more sensitive and more specific. However, majority of the NAAT kits are based on real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which can only detect one or two pathogens of ARIs within a single tube, thus are not syndromic testing. 5 The clinical and economic impacts of syndromic testing for respiratory pathogens have been evaluated in several studies. Overall, the implementation of syndromic testing can decrease the time of diagnosis, 4 decreased healthcare resource utilization, 6 decrease inpatient length of stay and time in isolation, 7 and improve antiviral use for influenza virus-positive patients. 8 SureX 13 Respiratory Pathogen Multiplex Kit (ResP) is a syndromic multiplex molecular test for simultaneous detection of 13 pathogens in a single tube. The aim of this study was to evaluate the application of the ResP for detection of respiratory pathogens in outpatients with flu-like manifestations.