“Ward based PCR”

There are a couple of new systems just on the market which I suspect will revolutionise PCR testing, particularly where an urgent result is desirable. This is often the case when trying to diagnose Influenza and RSV in the acute care setting.

Cepheid and Roche have both released benchtop PCR systems for Influenza and RSV testing which can be placed in the ward/ED environment, requires minimal training and can give you a highly sensitive result for influenza/RSV in well under an hour.

“Highly sensitive” are the key words here. This is in contrast to rapid antigen tests for Influenza and RSV which although can be useful in certain circumstances, are limited in their clinical usefulness by sub-standard sensitivity. RSV and Influenza rapid antigen tests are now living on borrowed time….

The other highlight is “under an hour”. This allows real-time management of the patient in the ED./acute assessment ward (including treatment, isolation, cohorting, discharge etc.) based on the result of the PCR test.

The big downsides of course are the cost and the “one at a time access”. More expensive (the cost will come down)than traditional batched PCRs it might be a while before such testing systems become commonplace. (A lot depends on the funding model of your healthcare system.)

But they will, you can be sure of that.

Michael

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