Respiratory virus detection: beyond influenza and RSV into emerging infectious diseases

In the era of global travel, clinicians can no longer consider just influenza and Respiratory Synctial Virus (RSV) and ignore other causes of presumptive viral respiratory tract infections. Since the recognition of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) coronavirus in 2003, novel viruses seem to emerge more frequently. Novel influenza strains, the novel coronavirus (MERS-CoV) identified last year in the Middle East, other novel viruses, and increasing numbers of immunocompromised patients that can be felled by acute respiratory infections all demand a need for rapid recognition of the etiology of viral respiratory illnesses. This article will review viral respiratory PCR tests currently available or in development and how they can be used to improve patient care both within the hospital setting and in the outpatient setting.