Current Best Practices for Respiratory Virus Testing

Abstract

2Diagnostic testing for respiratory viruses has been revolutionized by recent advances that have made rapid and highly accurate tests accessible to clinical laboratories, and it is important that these improved methods be utilized. Accurate detection of respiratory viruses is important in patient care, as it guides both therapy and infection control measures. On a larger scale, the CDC and its collaborating laboratories collect both data and isolates from clinical laboratories for national surveillance, and the use of high-quality tests in clinical laboratories can improve the quality of these data.

Severe viral pneumonia in adults: what is important for the ICU physician?

“…Conversely, after 2009 influenza A (2009) breakthrough the interest over viral pneumonia significantly increased: new diagnostic tools were commercialized and antiviral treatment is more often initiated [16]. During wintertime, an increased incidence of viral pneumonia is expected; screening for patients with suspect of viral infection, isolation measure, and antiviral treatment as appropriate should be the standard of practice.…”

“…Clinical management of this type of infection will depend mostly on patient condition rather than on virus virulence. Viruses that are usually associated with non-severe pneumonia pertain to the following families: adenovirus, metapneumovirus, para-influenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and influenza A and B viruses [16]. Noteworthy, different strains of influenza A virus circulate every year among population and every strain is associated with different clinical features.…”

“…Despite that, one specific virus strains can keep circulating during several years; thus, it became evident the reason why it is essential to identify not only the virus family but the specific strain as well. Although microbiologic tests to assess virus infection are not currently available in all hospitals mainly because of the high costs, their clinical application is increasing and their use is becoming the standard of care [16]. Moreover, new molecular test like quantitative PCR showed to improve diagnostic accuracy in virus infection [16].…”

“…Although microbiologic tests to assess virus infection are not currently available in all hospitals mainly because of the high costs, their clinical application is increasing and their use is becoming the standard of care [16]. Moreover, new molecular test like quantitative PCR showed to improve diagnostic accuracy in virus infection [16].…”

Detection of Human Coronavirus NL63 and OC43 in Children with Acute Respiratory Infections in Niigata, Japan, between 2010 and 2011

“…These findings suggest that the difficulties associated with HCoV isolation underscore the importance of HCoV as a causative agent of acute respiratory infections in the national surveillance. Together with parainfluenza virus type 4 and rhinovirus, HCoV is considered one of the most difficult respiratory viruses to identify, despite the fact that these viruses are responsible for a large proportion of viral respiratory tract infections (8). The use of molecular methods may assist in the study of HCoV epidemiology, and our primers designed for sequencing the HCoV-OC43 and NL63 spike glycoprotein gene will be useful for future molecular epidemiological analyses.…”