Médecine pulmonaire et respiratoire

Assess the Possibility of Screening and Supervising Influenza A (H7N9) Virus-Infected Patients via Rapid Point-of-Care-Test Kit with Upper or Lower Respiratory Specimens

Abstract

Zhengtu Li, Li Li, Shiguan Wu, Xiaobo Li, Runfeng Li, Wenbo Huang, Sihua Pan, Wenda Guan, Jicheng Huang and Zifeng Yang

The purpose of this study was to assess the possibility of screening and supervising influenza A (H7N9) virus infected patients via rapid point-of-care-test kit with upper or lower respiratory specimens. Here, we demonstrate that the POCT kits can detect H7N9 virus (Guangzhou strain) in different type of samples, which obtained from upper and lower respiratory tract, via the simulated experiment. The detection limit ranged from 4 to 6 log10TCID50/mL and 2.78 × 107 to 1.05 × 108 copies/mL in PBS and nasopharyngeal swab solution (NSS) solutions respectively. Furthermore, the detection ranges were enhanced by 0.5 or 1 log10TCID50/mL in BALF or sputum solution (SS) diluents for some parts of the POCT kits. Furthermore, we observed that there were higher replication and longer screening of H7N9 virus in lower respiratory tract (LRT) samples, such as endotracheal aspirate (ETA) and sputum, from the H7N9 virus-infected patients, although the detection results of POCT kits were negative for these clinical samples. So that, we think that POCT kits can be used to screen and supervise H7N9 virus-infected patients if in the accurate timing. And the LRT samples, special ETA and sputum, seem a good sample option for detecting H7N9 virus via POCT kits, so we need pay more attention to the LRT samples when the new POCT kits were developed.