Impact of the use of multiplex PCR on etiological diagnosis and treatment of acute respiratory infections in a private hospital of the north of the country.

Background And Objective: Diseases of the respiratory system represent one of the leading causes of medical care and antibiotic prescriptions. Currently, new technologies are used for the diagnosis of respiratory diseases of viral origin, such as the FilmArray Respiratory Panel, approved in 2012 by the FDA. The purpose of this study was to identify the correlation between the diagnosis and treatment of respiratory tract infections and the result of the polymerase chain reaction test for respiratory viruses.

Material And Methods: The study is of a retrospective, cross-sectional, descriptive type. One-hundred and thirty-four patients who underwent a viral panel for respiratory viruses, which was positive for one or more viruses, were included. For all cases, the positive results of said test and the treatment received by patients were analyzed.

Results: Of the patients who underwent nasopharyngeal aspirate during hospitalization, 58 % received antibiotic treatment at admission, 13 % received combined treatment (antibiotic + antiviral), 27 % of the patients received symptomatic treatment since admission and 2 % did it with antivirals. After receiving a positive result for respiratory viruses, 38 % continued with antibiotics, 30 % with antibiotics and antivirals, 13.8 % were managed only with antivirals and 18.2 % with symptomatic treatment.

Conclusion: Despite the global alert regarding antimicrobial resistance, patients continue to be treated with antibiotics, due to a situation that we ignore, but that is believed to be influenced by several factors.