Performance comparison of the cobas Liat and Cepheid GeneXpert systems for Clostridium difficile detection.

Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is a high burden and significant cause of healthcare-acquired infectious diarrhea in the United States (US). Timely and accurate diagnosis of CDI enables the rapid initiation of antibiotic therapy and infection control policies to minimize disease transmission. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays have become a preferred modality for diagnosing CDI in the US.

Diagnostic accuracy of the real-time PCR cobas Liat Influenza A/B assay and the Alere i Influenza A&B NEAR isothermal nucleic acid amplification assay for the detection of influenza using adult nasopharyngeal specimens.

Background: Accurate detection of influenza requires diagnostic testing; however, methods such as RADTs and central laboratory-based tests are limited by low sensitivity and time constraints, respectively.

Objective: To compare the performances of the cobas Liat Influenza A/B and Alere™ i Influenza A&B point-of-care (POC) assays for detecting influenza A and B viruses using fresh nasopharyngeal specimens with the GenMark Dx Respiratory Viral Panel as the reference method, a FDA cleared IVD PCR test.

Study Design: A total of 87 samples collected in viral transport medium from adults ≥18 years of age were re-tested on both POC assays (based on the reference PCR method, 29 were influenza A and 18 were influenza B virus positive).

Lab-in-a-tube: Real-time molecular point-of-care diagnostics for influenza A and B using the cobas® Liat® system.

Rapid diagnosis of influenza A and B is important for direct treatment decisions in patient care and for the reduction of in-hospital transmissions. The new real-time PCR based molecular point-of-care (POC) assay, the cobas Influenza A/B test on the cobas Liat System (cobas Liat Influenza A/B assay), generated a PCR result in less than 20 min, was evaluated for the detection of influenza A and B. One hundred twenty-one retrospectively collected respiratory specimens, previously analyzed with a routine influenza A/B test (Diagenode) were tested using the cobas Liat Influenza A/B assay.