The use of a multiplex real⁃time PCR assay for rapid diagnosing acute respiratory viral infections in children / 热带医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Respiratory tract infection；Multiplex PCR；Children@#AbstractObjective The aim of the study was to evaluate a multiplex molecular real ⁃ time assay for the diagnosis of respiratory viruses of childhood acute respiratory virus infection，and analyze the symptoms associated with the pathogens which were detected from those samples. Methods From August 2018 to August 2019，a sample of 275 swallow swabs from children with acute respiratory infections in Chengdu Children′s Specialist Hospital was collected and tested using the RespiFinder®SMART 22 test kit. The kit is based on multiplex PCR technology and can detect and distinguish 22 pathogens related to respiratory infections at one time. Results Of the 275 samples，245（89.1%）detected positive viral infections， of which 160 were single virus infections，59 were multiple viral infections，17 were positive for Mycoplasma pneumoniae， and 9 were positive for Chlamydia pneumoniae. The most common pathogens were rhinovirus 77 cases（28.0%），adenovirus 45 cases（16.4%）and respiratory syncytial virus 34 cases（12.4%）. Influenza virus was detected in 28（10.2%）samples， parainfluenza in 25 cases（9.1%），coronavirus in 15 cases（5.5%），Boca virus in 12 cases（4.4%），and human metapneumovirus in 9 cases （3.3%）. Rhinovirus （28.0%） was the most common pathogen in upper respiratory tract infections，while respiratory syncytial virus（12.4%）was the most common pathogen in lower respiratory tract infections. It has been found that multiple viral infections in children were associated with severe respiratory symptoms in clinical manifestations. Conclusion Compared with ordinary PCR detection，the multiplex PCR could detect multiple pathogens at one time in experiment，which greatly shortens the detection time and had important clinical significance for rapid diagnosis of multiple respiratory pathogens. Thus，it could be useful for detecting several viruses causing respiratory tract disorders.