In clinical setting there are over a dozen respiratory pathogens (viral and bacterial) that are commonly encountered. A clinician needs to know which of these are not infecting a patient in order to effectively prescribe treatment (such as knowing when an antiviral or an antibiotic is likely to be effective), and to control the spread of infection.
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Unfortunately, determining the source of a respiratory infection using traditional methods can be challenging and as a result, rather than using a diagnostic test, many physicians send patients with flu-like symptoms home without treatment or else treat them with the wrong medications. It is not surprising then that a recent New England Journal of Medicine study of children with influenza showed that only 28% of hospitalized and 17% of outpatient children were accurately diagnosed by their physician ( Poehling, K. A., K. M. Edwards, et al. 2006. “The under recognized burden of influenza in young children.” N Engl J Med 355(1): 31-40).
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The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) states that viral infections are a major cause of hospitalizations in young children and the elderly, and represent the seventh leading cause of death in the United States (http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/disease/)
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Annual direct and indirect costs estimated at more than US$10 billion per year (White House Government National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza)
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From influenza alone, every year over two hundred thousand Americans are hospitalized and 36 thousand of them die from their infection.( http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/disease/)
Given the consequences, early detection is critically important both to improve individual patient outcomes and to prevent the spread of disease. Rapid testing for respiratory viruses, if established as the standard of care, could substantially lower health care costs and potentially save lives.
Why is your diagnostics lab testing or not testing for respiratory viruses?