Optical Immunoassay Test for Rapid Detection of Influenza A and B Viruses: an Evaluation

Abstract

The optical immunoassay test (FLU OIA^®, BioStar, USA) for rapid detection of influenza A and B viral antigens was compared with viral isolation in cell culture. A total of 103 respiratory specimens were tested on 75 pediatric patients with acute respiratory illnesses. Influenza viruses were recovered in 40 specimens (type A: 5, Type B: 35). FLU OIA^®demonstrated 80.0% sensitivity and 68.8% specificity for nasopharyngeal aspirates and 36.7% sensitivity and 83.9% specificity for throat swabs.
We also tested FLU OIA^®, retrospectively, using 78 supernatant samples from pediatric patients with influenza A virus infection frozen after cell culture. FLU OIA^®demonstrated 91.4% sensitivity and 92.3% specificity for nasopharyngeal aspirates and 50.0% sensitivity and 91.7% specificity for throat swabs diluted in viral transport media.
Nasopharyngeal aspirates showed higher sensitivity than throat swabs for detection of influenza virus by FLU OIA^®. We believe this rapid test kit is useful for the detection of influenza A and B viruses.