The Clinical Application of Filmarray Respiratory Panel in Children with Acute Respiratory Tract Infections in a Pediatric Hospital
Abstract Background: Acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIS) are the common diseases in children and common methods frequently fail to identify the infectious etiology especially for viruses. The Filmarray respiratory panel (FARP) can reliably and rapidly identify viruses and bacterial pathogens. This study is to evaluate the performance and clinical significance of FARP in children with ARTIS.Methods: A total of 90 nasopharyngeal secretion (NPS) samples from children with ARTIS were enrolled. The FARP assay for 17 pathogens and other common methods including direct fluorescence assay (DFA) were performed to analyze these samples. Clinical data of all patients was also collected and evaluated.Results: Among the 90 samples, 58 samples (64.4%) were positive for 13 pathogens by FARP and 18 positive samples were detected with multiple-virus (31.3%, 18/58). Human rhinovirus/ enterovirus (21.0%%, 17/58) were predominant pathogen, followed by adenovirus (18.5%). Higher proportions of various pathogens were identified in the infant and toddler (0–2 years) groups with human rhinovirus/enterovirus being mostly virus. Adenovirus were common in the group aged 3–5 years, but only three pathogens including M.pneumoniae, respiratory syncytial virus, and adenovirus were also found in age group (6-14 years). Among 58 FARP positive patients, significant differences were in antibiotic prescription and use of hormone the single-organism-positive group and the multi-organism-positive group (P<0.05). Furthermore, there was significant difference in use of anti-virus and usage of hormone between severe respiratory infections group and non severe respiratory infections group (P<0.05). Conclusions: This study demonstrated that FARP can provide the rapid detection of respiratory virus and atypical bacteria for children, especially with severe respiratory tract infections.