%0 Journal Article
%@ 1471-2334
%A Schnee, Sarah V.
%A Pfeil, Johannes
%A Ihling, Clara M.
%A Tabatabai, Julia
%A Schnitzler, Paul
%C London ; Berlin ; Heidelberg
%D 2017
%F heidok:24267
%I BioMed Central ; Springer
%J BMC Infectious Diseases
%N 767
%P 1-6
%R https://doi.org/10.1186/s12879-017-2855-1
%T Performance of the Alere i RSV assay for point-of-care detection of respiratory syncytial virus in children
%U https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/24267/
%V 17
%X Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the most important cause of severe acute respiratory tract infection in young children. Alere i RSV is a novel molecular rapid test which identifies respiratory syncytial virus in less than 13 min.    Methods: We evaluated the clinical performance of the Alere i RSV assay in a pediatric point-of-care setting during winter season 2016 / 2017. Test results from 518 nasopharyngeal swab samples were compared to a real-time reverse transcription PCR reference standard.    Results: The overall sensitivity and specificity of the Alere i RSV test assay was 93% (CI95 89% – 96%) and 96% (CI95 93% – 98%), respectively. Alere i RSV performed well in children of all age groups. An optimal sensitivity of 98% (CI95 94% - 100%) and specificity of 96% (CI95 90% - 99%) was obtained in children < 6 months. In children ≥ 2 years, sensitivity and specificity remained at 87% (CI95 73% – 96%) and 98% (CI95 92% – 100%), respectively. False negative Alere i RSV test results mostly occurred in samples with low viral load (mean CT value 31.1; CI95 29.6 – 32.6). The Alere i RSV assay is easy to use and can be operated after minimal initial training. Test results are available within 13 min, with most RSV positive samples being identified after approximately 5 min.       Conclusion: The Alere i RSV assay has the potential to facilitate the detection of RSV in pediatric point-of-care settings.