Clinical impact of rapid molecular detection of respiratory pathogens in patients with acute respiratory infection

Abstract Background Acute respiratory infections (ARI) are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. There is a need to demonstrate the clinical impact of using the new, rapid and sensitive molecular assays in prospectively designed studies. Objectives To study the impact on medical management of a rapid molecular assay in patients with respiratory infections. Study design A prospective, randomized, non-blinded study was performed in patients presenting to the Emergency Department during two respiratory seasons (2016–2017). Diagnosis was performed by FilmArray Respiratory Panel (FilmArray-RP) or by immunofluorescence assay (IFA). Results A total of 432 patients (156 children and 276 adults) were analyzed. Diagnosis with FilmArray-RP was associated with significant changes in medical management including withholding antibiotic prescriptions (OR:15.52, 95%CI:1.99–120.83 in adults and OR:12.23, 95%CI:1.56–96.09 in children), and reduction in complementary studies in children (OR:9.64, 95%CI:2.13–43.63) compared to IFA. Decrease in oseltamivir prescriptions was significantly higher in adults in the FilmArray-RP group (p = 0.042; OR:1.19, 95%CI:0.51-2.79) compared to adults managed with IFA. Diagnostic yield was significantly higher by FilmArray-RP (81%) than by IFA (31%)(p  Conclusions The high respiratory viruses’ detection rate and availability of results within two hours when using FilmArray-RP were associated with decreases in antibiotic prescriptions and complementary studies and more accurate use of oseltamivir.