High sensitivity of a rapid immunochromatographic test for detection of influenza A virus 2009 H1N1 in nasopharyngeal aspirates from young children.

摘要

Recent reports have suggested that immunochromato-graphic tests (ICTs) have poor sensitivity for influenza A virus 2009 H1N1 (H1N1 09) infection on swabs (2) and nasopha-ryngeal washes (1), but they do have advantages, including short turnaround time, lack of hardware, and minimal validation requirements (6). We used the QuickVue Influenza A+B ICT test (Quidel Corp., San Diego, CA) during the winter of 2009 at a major pediatric teaching hospital in Australia. Here we provide in-use pediatric ICT performance estimates for H1N1 09, examine the effect of age and specimen type on sensitivity, and discuss the utility of ICT assays in guiding treatment and infection control decisions.