Antigen Test Designed for Point-of-Care Detection

A novel antigen-detection test shows efficacy in rapidly identifying a variety of respiratory viruses at the point of care in a pediatric setting.

The automated, MultiAnalyte system, is capable of detecting from a single nasopharyngeal swab specimen eight respiratory viruses including respiratory syncytial virus (RSV); influenza A and B viruses; adenovirus; parainfluenza type 1, 2, and 3 viruses; and Human metapneumovirus.

Scientists at Turku University Hospital (Finland) evaluated the technology's efficacy in a pediatric emergency setting by testing samples from 158 children who had respiratory symptoms or fever, and whose mean age was 1.8 year. The samples were tested by MariPOC as well as by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

Results with the MariPOC (ArcDia; Turku, Finland) test showed sensitivities and specificities for viral detection as follows: for the 36 children with RSV, 83% and 99%; for the 20 with influenza B, 85% and 96%; for the six with influenza A, 50% and 99%; for the 12 with adenovirus, 25% and 97%; and for the eight with Metapneumovirus, 50% and 100%.

Lauri Ivaska, MD, the lead author of the study said, "This test is based on fully automated random access immunoassay and delivers preliminary results in 20 minutes and final results in two hours. Approximately 70% of results are ready in 20 minutes. For these purposes we want to make the diagnosis reliable, easy and fast; however, most point-of-care tests for detection of respiratory viruses have limitations in diagnostic performance and clinical usability." Dr. Ivaska added, "The results indicate that whereas sensitivity for influenza and RSV was moderately good, sensitivity for adenovirus was low." The study was presented on May 10, 2012, at the European Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID) 30th Annual Meeting, held in Thessalonica (Greece).

Related Links:
Turku University Hospital
ArcDia