Antigen detection in the diagnosis of viral infections

The value of viral antigen detection from nasopharyngeal secretion (NPS) by enzyme immunoassay (EIA) in everyday clinical practice was evaluated in 570 children hospitalized because of infections. NPS-EIA gave a positive result in 32% of all cases. Virus isolation was positive in the NPS in 25%, virus isolation in stool samples in 14%, and virus serology in 28% of the cases. NPS-EIA was superior for detecting adenovirus, respiratory syncytial (RS) and parainfluenza viruses. In a series of 124 patients in whom 3 methods were compared, NPS-EIA was the only positive method in 48% of all findings positive for adenoviruses, in 73% for RSV, and in 58% for parainfluenza viruses. Antigen detection by NPS-EIA markedly increased the diagnostic potential in everyday clinical practice, especially for viral respiratory diseases.