| Title | Implementation of filmarray respiratory viral panel in a core laboratory improves testing turnaround time and patient care. | ||
| Author | Xu, Min; Qin, Xuan; Astion, Michael L; Rutledge, Joe C; Simpson, Joanne; Jerome, Keith R; Englund, Janet A; Zerr, Danielle M; Migita, Russell T; Rich, Shannon; Childs, John C; Cent, Anne; Del Beccaro, Mark A | ||
| Journal | Am J Clin Pathol | Publication Year/Month | 2013-Jan |
| PMID | 23270907 | PMCID | PMC7110182 |
| Affiliation | 1.Dept of Laboratories, Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA 98105, USA. min.xu@seattlechildrens.org. | ||
The FilmArray respiratory virus panel detects 15 viral agents in respiratory specimens using polymerase chain reaction. We performed FilmArray respiratory viral testing in a core laboratory at a regional children\'s hospital that provides service 24 hours a day 7 days a week. The average and median turnaround time were 1.6 and 1.4 hours, respectively, in contrast to 7 and 6.5 hours documented 1 year previously at an on-site reference laboratory using a direct fluorescence assay (DFA) that detected 8 viral agents. During the study period, rhinovirus was detected in 20% and coronavirus in 6% of samples using FilmArray; these viruses would not have been detected with DFA. We followed 97 patients with influenza A or influenza B who received care at the emergency department (ED). Overall, 79 patients (81%) were given oseltamivir in a timely manner defined as receiving the drug in the ED, a prescription in the ED, or a prescription within 3 hours of ED discharge. Our results demonstrate that molecular technology can be successfully deployed in a nonspecialty, high-volume, multidisciplinary core laboratory.