Optical immunoassay test for rapid detection of influenza A and B viruses: an evaluation

Abstract

The optical immunoassay test (FLU OIA, BioStar, USA) for rapid detection of influenza A and B viral antigens was compared with viral isolation in cell culture. A total of 103 respiratory specimens were tested on 75 pediatric patients with acute respiratory illnesses. Influenza viruses were recovered in 40 specimens (type A: 5, Type B: 35). FLU OIA demonstrated 80.0% sensitivity and 68.8% specificity for nasopharyngeal aspirates and 36.7% sensitivity and 83.9% specificity for throat swabs. We also tested FLU OIA, retrospectively, using 78 supernatant samples from pediatric patients with influenza A virus infection frozen after cell culture. FLU OIA demonstrated 91.4% sensitivity and 92.3% specificity for nasopharyngeal aspirates and 50.0% sensitivity and 91.7% specificity for throat swabs diluted in viral transport media. Nasopharyngeal aspirates showed higher sensitivity than throat swabs for detection of influenza virus by FLU OIA. We believe this rapid test kit is useful for the detection of influenza A and B viruses.