Utility of DNA Microarrays for Detection of Viruses in Acute Respiratory Tract Infections in Children
Received 13 August 2007; received in revised form 9 November 2007; accepted 18 December 2007. published online 10 March 2008.
Objective
To assess the utility of a panviral DNA microarray platform (Virochip) in the detection of viruses associated with pediatric respiratory tract infections (RTIs).
Study design
The Virochip was compared with conventional direct fluorescent antibody (DFA)- and polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based testing for the detection of respiratory viruses in 278 consecutive nasopharyngeal aspirate samples from 222 children.
Results
The Virochip was superior in performance to DFA, showing a 19% increase in the detection of 7 respiratory viruses included in standard DFA panels, and was similar to virus-specific PCR (sensitivity, 85% to 90%; specificity, ≥99%; positive predictive value, 94% to 96%; negative predictive value, 97% to 98%) in the detection of respiratory syncytial virus, influenza A, and rhinoviruses/enteroviruses. The Virochip also detected viruses not routinely tested for or missed by DFA and PCR, as well as double infections and infections in critically ill patients that DFA failed to detect.
Conclusions
Given its favorable sensitivity and specificity profile and expanded spectrum for detection, microarray-based viral testing holds promise for clinical diagnosis of pediatric RTIs.
aDepartment of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
bDepartment of Microbiology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
cDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
dDepartment of Pediatrics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
eDepartment of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
fDivision of Infectious Diseases, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
gHoward Hughes Medical Institute, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
hDepartment of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Children's Hospital and Research Center, Oakland, CA
iViral and Rickettsial Disease Laboratory, California Department of Health Services, Richmond, CA
jDepartments of Microbiology and Pathology and Immunology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO.
Reprint requests: Dr Don Ganem, Medicine/Microbiology and Immunology, University of California San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Ave, Room HSW 1522, Box 0552, San Francisco, CA 94143.
Supported by a Genentech Graduate Fellowship (A.U.) and grants from the Glaser Pediatric Network (T.G.), the Sandler Program for Asthma Research (J.D.), the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (J.D. and D.G.), and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (C.C., J.D., and D.G.).
Supplemental information on the output of the E-Predict analysis is available from the authors upon request.
⁎ These authors contributed equally to this manuscript.
ABSTRACT