Journal of clinical virology : the official publication of the Pan American Society for Clinical Virology
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Multicenter Study
Multi-center evaluation of cepheid xpert® xpress SARS-CoV-2 point-of-care test during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.
With the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2, rapid diagnostics are paramount to contain the current pandemic. The routinely used realtime RT-PCR is sensitive, specific and able to process large batches of samples. However, turnaround time is long and in cases where fast obtained results are critical, molecular point of care tests (POCT) can be an alternative. Here we report on a multicenter evaluation of the Cepheid Xpert Xpress SARS-CoV-2 point-of-care test. ⋯ Xpert Xpress SARS-CoV-2 point of care test showed equal performance compared to routine in-house testing with a limit of detection (LOD) of 8.26 copies/mL. Other seasonal respiratory viruses were not detected. In clinical samples Xpert Xpress SARS-CoV-2 reaches an agreement of 100 % compared to all in-house RT-PCRs CONCLUSION: Cepheids GeneXpert Xpert Xpress SARS-CoV-2 is a valuable addition for laboratories in situations where rapid and accurate diagnostics are of the essence.
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Multicenter Study
Characterisation of COVID-19 Pandemic in Paediatric Age Group: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a pandemic first originated in Wuhan the capital of Hubei province, China in December 2019 and then spread globally. It is caused by SARS-CoV-2. Until 1st April 2020, the number of cases worldwide was recorded to be 823,626 with 40,598 deaths. Most of the reported cases were adults with few cases described in children and neonates. ⋯ The disease trajectory in Paediatric patients has good prognosis compared to adults. Intensive care unit and death are rare. Vertical transmission and virus shedding in breast milk are yet to be established.
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Multicenter Study
Multi-center evaluation of the cobas® Liat® Influenza A/B & RSV assay for rapid point of care diagnosis.
Point of Care Testing (POCT) provides the capability for rapid laboratory test results in patient care environments where a traditional clinical laboratory is not available. POCTs have shorter turn-around times (TATs), they may be performed by non-laboratory personnel, and the need for transport time is eliminated. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently granted Clinical Laboratory Improvements Amendment (CLIA) waiver status to the cobas® Influenza A/B & RSV assay, a rapid, accurate point-of-care test for Influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) performed on the Liat® System. ⋯ The cobas® Influenza A/B and RSV assay showed sensitivities of 99.6%, 99.3%, and 96.8% for Influenza A, Influenza B, and RSV, respectively as determined from percent positive agreement (PPA) following comparison to the reference test. Sequencing confirmed cobas® Influenza A/B and RSV results in 49.2% of reference test discordant specimens, while crossing threshold data suggest increased sensitivity compared to the reference test. The cobas® Influenza A/B and RSV assay was found to be a rapid, sensitive POCT for the detection of these viruses, and provides laboratory-quality PCR-based diagnostic results in point of care settings.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Multicenter clinical performance evaluation of BD Veritor™ system for rapid detection of respiratory syncytial virus.
BD Veritor™ System for Rapid Detection of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is a new-generation lateral flow immunochromatographic assay for objective detection of RSV in respiratory specimens from children. ⋯ Overall, the BD Veritor™ System for the Rapid Detection of RSV performed well when compared to both viral cell culture and RT-PCR in children.
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Multicenter Study
Treatment of symptomatic congenital cytomegalovirus infection beyond the neonatal period.
Congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) is an important cause of sensorineural hearing loss. Ganciclovir treatment in the neonatal period may prevent hearing deterioration in infants with central nervous system (CNS) involvement. However, there are hardly any data regarding antiviral treatment begun beyond the neonatal period. ⋯ Valganciclovir treatment is well tolerated. It may improve or preserve the auditory function of congenitally cytomegalovirus-infected patients treated beyond the neonatal period for at least one year after the beginning of antiviral treatment.