Background
Respiratory tract infections are among the most common infections during winter season. Rapid diagnostics is required for clinical decision making regarding isolation of patients and appropriate therapy. Objectives: The
Conclusions
The Panther Fusion® provides a random-access system with continuous loading and much shorter sample-to-answer times compared to LDT, albeit with a slightly less clinical sensitivity compared to the LDT.
Results
Analytical sensitivity was generally slightly lower for the Panther Fusion® assays. Clinical specificity and sensitivity was between 96 %-100 % and 71.9 %-100 %, respectively. Discrepant results were found in 146 samples of which 88 samples tested LDT positive / Panther Fusion® negative and 58 samples were LDT negative / Panther Fusion® positive. A total of ten discrepant samples with Ct-values <30 were sequenced to confirm the presence of 7 RV-C not-detected by LDT and 1 RV-A and 2 ADV-2 not detected by Panther Fusion®. Conclusions: The Panther Fusion® provides a random-access system with continuous loading and much shorter sample-to-answer times compared to LDT, albeit with a slightly less clinical sensitivity compared to the LDT.