Causes of common viral respiratory syndromes
Diagnosis of Viral Respiratory Infections
- Typically, clinical evaluation and local epidemiology
- Sometimes diagnostic tests
Diagnostic tests should usually be reserved for the following:
- Situations in which knowledge of the specific pathogen influences clinical management.
- Epidemiological surveillance (i.e., identifying and determining the cause of an outbreak).
Pathogen identification may be important in the rare cases in which specific antiviral therapy is considered. Currently, such cases are limited to early or severe influenza, COVID-19, severe adenovirus pneumonia, or RSV infection primarily in severely ill immunocompromised patients. Identification of the specific pathogen (particularly influenza or RSV in hospitalized or institutionalized patients) may also be important in identifying and containing potential outbreaks.
Point-of-care antigen-based rapid diagnostic tests are readily available for influenza, RSV, and SARS-CoV-2, but have lower sensitivity than laboratory tests.
Point-of-care testing is typically reserved for situations where the clinical diagnosis is uncertain and:
- Antiviral therapy is being considered.
- Identification of the viral pathogen would preclude further evaluation or treatment of a bacterial infection.
Viral pathogen detection using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in multiplex panels (or individually for influenza, RSV, and SARS-CoV-2) is available in many clinical laboratories. These tests are rapid and more sensitive than rapid methods.
At Athens Medical Center, we perform simultaneous detection of the three common viruses, namely coronavirus, influenza A and B, as well as RSV, using a molecular method and a response in 2 hours.
