Journal List > Ann Clin Microbiol > v.18(4) > 1078525

Lee, Lee, Sung, Kang, Lee, Lee, Kim, Lee, and Kim: Comparison of Nasopharyngeal Aspirates and Nasopharyngeal Flocked Swabs for Respiratory Virus Detection

초록

Background

Nasopharyngeal aspirate (NPA) is known as the best specimen for accurate diagnosis of viral respiratory infections in pediatric patients, but the procedure is very annoying. Recently introduced flocked swabs have been reported to be easy to obtain a good quality specimen and comfortable to patients. The purpose of this study was to compare the sensitivities between NPA and nasopharyngeal flocked swabs (NPFS) for detection of respiratory viruses in children.

Methods

For this study, 111 hospitalized children with acute respiratory tract infections were recruited. NPA and NPFS were performed in parallel from each patient. NPFS were always collected after NPA. Specimens were tested for six common respiratory viruses in triplicate using indirect immunofluorescence (IIF), viral cultures, and multiplex reverse transcription PCR (RT- PCR).

Results

The proportion of specimens inadequate for IIF was higher in NPA (23.4%) than NPFS (5.4%). According to the consensus positive, the positive rates of NPFS were higher than those of NPA when using IIF (45.7% and 30.6%, P=0.048) and culture (38.7% and 27.9%, P=0.004). However, the false-positive rates of NPFS were higher than those of NPA when using IIF (12.4% and 1.2%, P=0.004). The positive rates of NPFS and those of NPA were not different in multiplex RT-PCR (67.6% and 55.9%, P=0.055).

Conclusion

The higher sensitivity of IIF for NPFS specimens and of culture for respiratory viruses and the similar sensitivities in multiplex PCR could make them an alternative to NPA samples, especially in physician clinics or emergency rooms.

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Fig. 1.
Distribution of 80 respiratory viruses from 79 patients. Respiratory syncytial viruses (RSV), influenza viruses (Flu), adenovi-ruses (ADV), and parainfluenza viruses (PIV) were counted for the prevalence in this study.
acm-18-119f1.tif
Table 1.
Consensus positive results of the triplicate examination of the nasopharyngeal aspirates (NPA) and nasopharyngeal flocked swab (NPFS) specimens for the detection of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza A virus (Flu A), influenza B virus (Flu B), parainfluenza virus (PIV)-1,-2, -3, and adenovirus (ADV)
Interpretation IIF* Culture Multiplex RT-PCR
NPA NPFS NPA NPFS NPA NPFS
Positive 30.6% (26/85) 45.7% (48/105) 27.9% (31/111) 38.7% (43/111) 55.9% (62/111) 67.6% (75/111)
Negative 69.4% (59/85) 54.3% (57/105) 72.2% (80/111) 61.3% (68/111) 44.1% (49/111) 32.4% (36/111)

P=0.048 by Chi-square test.

P=0.004 by McNemar's test.

P=0.055 by McNemar's test.

Abbreviation: IIF, indirect immunofluorescent test.

Table 2.
Summary of 28 discrepant results between specimens and/or detection methods according to the ‘consensus positive’
Specimen No. Indirect fluorescent test Virus culture Multiplex RT-PCR
NPA NPFS NPA NPFS NPA NPFS
3 N Flu B N N N N
5 N PIV Flu A Flu A Flu A Flu A
7 N PIV N N N N
8 N PIV N N N N
10 N PIV N N RSV RSV
12 RSV RSV, PIV N RSV RSV, PIV RSV, PIV
13 N PIV N N N N
15 N PIV PIV PIV PIV PIV
16 N PIV N N N N
19 N PIV N Flu A N N
20 RSV N N N RSV RSV
25 N RSV RSV RSV RSV RSV
32 N RSV N N N N
44 PIV2 N N N N N
45 N Flu A N N Flu A Flu A
47 N Flu A Flu A Flu A Flu A Flu A
68 N Flu B N N N ADV, RSV
70 N Flu A N N Flu A Flu A, RSV
71 N RSV N N Flu A PIV
75 N RSV RSV RSV N N
78 N Flu A N N ADV ADV
79 N Flu A Flu A Flu A Flu A N
80 N Flu A N N N Flu A
90 N Flu A Flu A Flu A Flu A ADV
91 N PIV N N N N
94 N RSV N RSV N ADV
99 RSV N RSV RSV N N
104 RSV N N N RSV N

Shaded boxes denote false positives.

Abbreviations: NPA, nasopharyngeal aspirate; NPFS, nasopharyngeal flocked swab; Flu, influenza virus; PIV, parainfluenza virus; RSV, respiratory syncytial virus; ADV, adenovirus.

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