ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of influenza based on clinical grounds alone may be inaccurate, because the presenting symptoms of influenza are similar to those caused by other infectious agents. We evaluate two influenza rapid tests, SD BIOLINE Influenza Ag (Standard Diagnostic inc., Yongin, Korea) and QuickVueTM Influenza Test (Quidel corporation, San Diego, USA) with influenza virus culture and RT-PCR. METHODS: The two commercially available rapid test kits, SD BIOLINE Influenza Ag and QuickVueTM Influenza Test, for influenza virus detection were evaluated with 189 respiratory specimens collected during Dec. 2004 to Nov. 2005 in Vietnam and compared with viral culture and RT-PCR. RESULTS: Overall, the SD BIOLINE Influenza Ag and QuickVueTM Influenza Test showed high sensitivities (88.4% and 82.6%, respectively) and high specificities (99.0% and 99.0%, respectively), high positive predictive value (PPV) (98.7% and 98.6%, respectively) and high negative predictive value (NPV) (91.1% and 87.2%, respectively). CONCLUSION: Both SD BIOLINE Influenza Ag and QuickVueTM Influenza Test were easy to perform and showed high sensitivity and can be used as an additional tool for rapid diagnosis of influenza virus.