Comparison of the AllplexTM Respiratory Panel Assays and the automated Fast Track Diagnostics Respiratory pathogens 21 assay for the diagnosis of pediatric respiratory viral infections

Usefulness of the GenMark ePlex RPP assay for the detection of respiratory viruses compared to the FTD21 multiplex RT-PCR

Cartridge-based multiplex panels covering numerous pathogens offer an advantage of minimal hands-on-time and short time to result to commercial RT-PCR assays. In this study, we evaluated the performance of the ePlex respiratory pathogen panel (RPP) compared to the Fast Track Diagnostics Respiratory pathogens 21 multiplex RT-PCR assay (FTD21) using 400 clinical respiratory samples. Discrepant results were further analysed by a reference nucleic acid amplification testing (NAT) and a composite reference approach was used for final interpretation. Discordant results were observed in 56 targets corresponding to 54 samples. Sensitivities and specificities were 85.5% and 99.9% for the ePlex RPP and 95.8% and 99.7% for the FTD21 system, respectively. Altogether, the ePlex RPP is a valuable tool for the rapid detection of a number of different respiratory viruses with the exception of the coronavirus family (low sensitivity ranging from 50-80%) and samples with a low pathogen load (Ct values >33).

Performances of the VitaPCR™ SARS-CoV-2 Assay during the second wave of the COVID-19 epidemic in France

To assess the practicability (usability and satisfaction) and analytical performances of the VitaPCR™ SARS‐CoV‐2 Assay (Credo Diagnostics Biomedical Pte. Ltd.), a rapid point‐of‐care nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT), by reference to real‐time reverse‐transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT‐PCR) for respiratory viruses. The practicability of the VitaPCR™ Assay and Instrument was assessed from usability evaluation and a satisfaction questionnaire. Nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from 239 patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19)‐like illness during the second epidemic wave, in Paris, France. Overall, the usability of the VitaPCR™ Instrument was high. The satisfaction questionnaire indicated a high appreciation of the VitaPCR™ NAAT mainly for the short duration of analysis in only 20 min. A total of 140 and 99 samples were positive and negative for SARS‐CoV‐2 RNA by rRT‐PCR, respectively. In the event of significant viral load (i.e., N gene C_t values  33), the platform's analytical performances dropped significantly, with lower sensitivity, concordance, and accuracy, while its specificity remained high. The VitaPCR™ SARS‐CoV‐2 Assay is an accurate rapid point‐of‐care NAAT, suitable for clinical practice for the rapid diagnosis of COVID‐19, especially in patients with COVID‐19‐suspected symptoms.