ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To establish a convenient and high-throughput respiratory virus detection method to facilitate epidemiological viral monitoring.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We used high-throughput microsphere-based flexible multi-analyte profiling technology (xMAP) coupled with signal amplification molecules to simultaneously detect RNAs of 8 viruses including influenza viruses A and B, parainfluenza viruses type 1, 2 and 3, respiratory syncytial viruses A and B, and metapneumovirus in a 96-well plate format. The sensitivity and specificity of the method for the synthetic viral RNAs were evaluated.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>There was no cross-reactivity among the 8 respiratory viral target RNAs. The detection limits for the 8 viral in intro-transcribed RNAs ranged from 1204 to 4695 RNA copies.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>We establish a sensitive, specific, convenient, and high-throughput multiplex detection method suitable for detecting multiple respiratory viral RNAs for epidemiological viral monitoring.</p>