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Impact of rapid influenza PCR testing on hospitalization and antiviral use: A retrospective cohort study
Author(s) -
Chu Helen Y.,
Englund Janet A.,
Huang Dandi,
Scott Emily,
Chan Jeanne D.,
Jain Rupali,
Pottinger Paul S.,
Lynch John B.,
Dellit Timothy H.,
Jerome Keith R.,
Kuypers Jane
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of medical virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9071
pISSN - 0146-6615
DOI - 10.1002/jmv.24279
Subject(s) - oseltamivir , medicine , retrospective cohort study , antiviral treatment , medical record , point of care testing , emergency medicine , virology , virus , immunology , covid-19 , infectious disease (medical specialty) , disease , chronic hepatitis
Rapid PCR‐based influenza tests are increasingly used as point‐of‐care diagnostics in hospitals and clinics. To our knowledge, no prior studies have described clinical outcomes with implementation of rapid PCR‐based influenza tests in hospitalized adult inpatients. Electronic medical records were used to assess differences in laboratory testing time and antiviral use among a subset of 175 consecutive adult inpatients tested for influenza in two respiratory seasons before and after implementation of rapid PCR‐based influenza testing at an academic medical center. Of the 350 hospitalized inpatients included in this analysis, 96 (27%) were over 65 years of age and 308 (88%) had a comorbid condition. The overall time to result decreased significantly from 25.2 to 1.7 hr ( P < 0.001) after implementation of rapid PCR‐based influenza testing. Among influenza‐negative patients, the frequency of oseltamivir initiation remained unchanged (before: 43% vs. after: 45%; P = 0.60), though the median duration of oseltamivir was significantly decreased from 1.1 to 0.0 days ( P < 0.001). By providing an earlier result to clinicians, rapid PCR‐based influenza tests may decrease unnecessary antiviral use among adult inpatients who test negative for influenza. J. Med. Virol. 87:2021–2026, 2015 . © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.