Performance Evaluation of Alere i Influenza A&B in Detecting Influenza Viruses A and B.

Objective: Alere i Influenza A&B is an isothermal nucleic acid amplification-based integrated system used for detecting and differentiating between influenza virus A and influenza virus B. We evaluated the clinical performances of Alere i Influenza A&B compared to that of real-time PCR, multiplex real-time PCR, and two rapid influenza diagnostic kits.

Methods: Nasopharyngeal aspiration specimens (n=315) from patients with signs of acute respiratory infection were collected between 2015 and 2016.