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. 2015 Dec;87(12):2021-6.
doi: 10.1002/jmv.24279. Epub 2015 Jun 12.

Impact of rapid influenza PCR testing on hospitalization and antiviral use: A retrospective cohort study

Helen Y Chu  1 , Janet A Englund  2 , Dandi Huang  1 , Emily Scott  1 , Jeanne D Chan  3 , Rupali Jain  3 , Paul S Pottinger  1 , John B Lynch  1 , Timothy H Dellit  1 , Keith R Jerome  4 , Jane Kuypers  4
Affiliations

Impact of rapid influenza PCR testing on hospitalization and antiviral use: A retrospective cohort study

Helen Y Chu et al. J Med Virol. 2015 Dec.

Abstract

Rapid PCR-based influenza tests are increasingly used as point-of-care diagnostics in hospitals and clinics. To our knowledge, no prior studies have described clinical outcomes with implementation of rapid PCR-based influenza tests in hospitalized adult inpatients. Electronic medical records were used to assess differences in laboratory testing time and antiviral use among a subset of 175 consecutive adult inpatients tested for influenza in two respiratory seasons before and after implementation of rapid PCR-based influenza testing at an academic medical center. Of the 350 hospitalized inpatients included in this analysis, 96 (27%) were over 65 years of age and 308 (88%) had a comorbid condition. The overall time to result decreased significantly from 25.2 to 1.7 hr (P < 0.001) after implementation of rapid PCR-based influenza testing. Among influenza-negative patients, the frequency of oseltamivir initiation remained unchanged (before: 43% vs. after: 45%; P = 0.60), though the median duration of oseltamivir was significantly decreased from 1.1 to 0.0 days (P < 0.001). By providing an earlier result to clinicians, rapid PCR-based influenza tests may decrease unnecessary antiviral use among adult inpatients who test negative for influenza.

Keywords: PCR; infection control; influenza; oseltamivir.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Graph showing period of data collection during two seasons before and after implementation of rapid PCR-based influenza testing.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Histogram of days from sample collection to result in Seasons 1 and 2 (A). Histogram of duration of oseltamivir therapy in influenza-negative patients in Seasons 1 and 2 (B).
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Chart showing cost savings per patient sample tested using rapid PCR-based influenza tests as compared to traditional PCR tests. The x-axis represents the percentage of flu-negative patients who receive oseltamivir. The y-axis represents the numbers of dollars saved per patient sample tested. The bars represent the proportion of overall patients who test positive for influenza.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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