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. 2020 Aug;97(4):115085.
doi: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2020.115085. Epub 2020 May 17.

Impact of FilmArray meningitis encephalitis panel on HSV testing and empiric acyclovir use in children beyond the neonatal period

Kevin Messacar  1 , James T Gaensbauer  2 , Meghan Birkholz  3 , Claire Palmer  4 , James K Todd  2 , Kenneth L Tyler  4 , Samuel R Dominguez  2
Affiliations

Impact of FilmArray meningitis encephalitis panel on HSV testing and empiric acyclovir use in children beyond the neonatal period

Kevin Messacar et al. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 2020 Aug.

Abstract

Following implementation of the FilmArray meningitis and encephalitis panel, which enables rapid syndromic cerebrospinal fluid testing, HSV testing doubled in children >60 days with suspected central nervous system infection at Children's Hospital Colorado. Acyclovir initiation was unchanged, but duration decreased. Diagnostic and antimicrobial stewardship is needed for MEP optimization.

Keywords: Acyclovir; Antimicrobial stewardship; Diagnostic stewardship; Diagnostics; Encephalitis; Herpes; Meningitis; Pediatrics.

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Conflict of interest statement

Financial Disclosure/Potential Conflicts of Interest: SRD has received grant support from and has served as a consultant for BioFire Diagnostics outside the submitted work. All other authors have no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose or no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
A. Percentage of CSF specimens sent to CHCO microbiology laboratory from children >60 days tested for HSV from 2007–2017 by year with delineation betvwen the pre-MEP era from 2007–2016 and post-MEP era in 2017. The percentage of CSF specimens tested by single-plex HSV PCR is represented with a dashed line, tested by MEP with a dotted line, and tested for HSV by any method (single-ptex HSV PCR or MEP) by the solid line B. percentage of CSF specimens sent to CHCO microbiology laboratory from children >60 days in the pre-MEP era (above) and MEP era (below) undergoing HSV testing (bracketed) and started on acyclovir (+ACV. yellow) or not started on acyclovir (no ACV. orange), or not tested for HSV (No HSV test, blue).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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