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Short Communications

Comparison of the FilmArray assay and in-house real-time PCR for detection of respiratory infection

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Pages 897-901 | Received 19 Mar 2014, Accepted 16 Jul 2014, Published online: 07 Oct 2014
 

Abstract

Recently, molecular methods capable of detecting almost all microbial agents that may cause acute respiratory infection have been introduced. The FilmArray Respiratory Panel assay, which integrates nucleic acid extraction, nested amplification and detection in a reaction pouch preloaded with all reagents required for detection of 17 viruses and 3 bacteria, was compared with an in-house real-time PCR that detects these agents in 8 parallel amplifications. When 128 clinical samples representing 18 of these agents were analysed by both assays the agreement was excellent, with kappa values ranging between 0.54 and 1.0. Discordances were mainly observed for adenovirus, but not when version 1.7 of FilmArray was used. The results show that these assays detect a wide range of pathogens with similar performance. FilmArray provides results after approximately 1 h, including ≈ 5 min hands-on time, and does not require advanced equipment or expertise in molecular diagnostics, making it a useful point-of-care-test for acute respiratory infections.

Acknowledgment

We thank Kirsten Kriz at Biotech-IgG A/S for supplying FilmArray assays.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

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