Novel Diagnostic Tests Better Predict Flu Virus vs Traditional Ones

Novel digital immunoassays (DIAs) and rapid nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) can better detect influenza A and B among children and adults vs traditional rapid influenza diagnostic tests (RIDTs), according to a recent systematic review and meta-analysis.

Rapid and accurate methods of diagnosing influenza can help improve patient care.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

RELATED CONTENT
ACIP Releases Updated Influenza Vaccine Recommendations
1 in 5 Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis Not Vaccinated Against Flu
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

To compare the accuracy of novel rapid influenza diagnostic tests with traditional ones, the researchers searched 6 databases from inception to May 2017 for studies of RIDTs (n = 130), DIAs (n = 19), and NAATs (n = 13). Each study compared the commercialized rapid test with the reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction reference standard for influenza diagnosis.

The researchers defined commercialized rapid tests as those that provided results in less than 30 minutes. Standardized form was used to extract data. QUADAS-2 (Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies 2) criteria was used to evaluate quality.

Results indicated that pooled sensitivities for detecting influenza A had been 54.4% for RIDTs, 80.0% for DIAs, and 91.6% for NAATs, while pooled sensitivities for detecting influenza B were 53.2% for RIDTs, 76.8% for DIAs, and 95.4% for NAATs.

Ultimately, pooled sensitivities had been higher among children by 12.1 to 31.8 percentage points, with the exception of influenza A by rapid NAATs, which was higher by 2.7%. Furthermore, pooled sensitivities were found to favor industry-sponsored studies by 6.2 to 34.0 percentage points.

“Novel DIAs and rapid NAATs had markedly higher sensitivities for influenza A and B in both children and adults than did traditional RIDTs, with equally high specificities,” the researchers concluded.

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

Merckx J, Wali R, Schiller I, et al. Diagnostic accuracy of novel and traditional rapid tests for influenza infection compared with reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction: a systematic review and meta-analysis [Published online September 5, 2017]. Ann Intern Med. doi:10.7326/M17-0848.