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Updated: May 23, 2026
Rapid Molecular Detection and Differentiation of Influenza Viruses A and B
Published on: January 30, 2017
Rapid diagnosis of influenza: an evaluation of two commercially available RT-PCR assays
Mark Li1, Nigel Brenwald, Sandra Bonigal
1Department of Medical Microbiology, City Hospital, Birmingham, United Kingdom. mark.li@nhs.net
Objective:
To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of influenza virus detection by two commercial reverse transcriptase PCR methods compared with a reference real-time PCR.
Methods:
122 clinical specimens were tested on Xpert(®) Flu and RealStar(®) Influenza Screen & Type. A reference real-time RT-PCR, at a specialist laboratory was chosen as the gold standard for comparison.
Results:
RealStar(®) Influenza Screen & Type had higher sensitivity for influenza A and influenza B respectively (92.3% and 88.2%) when compared to Xpert(®) Flu (78.8% and 76.5%). Both tests had excellent specificity.
Conclusions:
The simplicity and speed of the Xpert(®) Flu system could allow it to be used in the near-patient setting; however in circumstances where excluding a diagnosis of influenza may be critical, negative specimens may need to be repeated using a more sensitive assay.
