Evaluation of sensitivity and specificity of rapid influenza diagnostic tests for novel swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) virus.

摘要

This letter presents the usefulness of the rapid influenza diagnostic tests (RIDTs) to screen patients with suspected novel swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) virus (S-0IVH1N1) during the outbreak in Bangkok, Thailand.On May 12,2009 the first 2 laboratory-confirmed cases of S-OIVH1N1 infection were reported from Thailand. Within a month outbreaks occurred in the community and schools. The standard for diagnosis is viral isolation or real time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), however the laboratory capacity is limited. Rapid influenza diagnostic tests (RIDTs) have been used to screen patients with suspected influenza, and they offer the advantage of providing a timely result that might impact patient care. The performance of current RIDTs in diagnosing S-OIVH1N1 is unknown.Therefore, we conducted a study to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of RIDTs against RT-PCR for novel H1N1 in the background of seasonal influenza in a private health care setting