Impact of rapid screening of respiratory viral infections on patient management in a healthcare facility.

BACKGROUND

In healthcare establishments, acute viral respiratory infections are a major cause of disorganization of care units, morbidity, and mortality among patients. Rapid diagnosis could improve patient management.

AIM: To assess the impact of rapid molecular screening of respiratory viruses on hospitalized patient management.

METHODS

During a 4-year retrospective observational study conducted at the University Hospital of Poitiers, symptomatic adult patients were sampled at their entrance to the emergency department and tested for respiratory viruses with results available before hospitalization, with rapid multiplex PCR (R-PCR group; Biofire® FilmArray Respiratory panel 2 (Biomerieux, France)), or during hospitalization, with conventional multiplex PCR (C-PCR group; Respiratory Multi Well System MWS R-GENE® (Biomerieux, France)). Time to result, length of emergency department and hospital stays, hospitalization in a private/double room, the patient's room changes during the first 5 days following hospitalization, administration of antibiotics upon admission in the emergency department and reassessment, and outcomes due to the infection were compared.

FINDINGS: Overall, 132 and 496 hospitalized patients were included in the C-PCR and R-PCR groups, respectively. Time to result (3.1 ± 2.7 h vs 22.2 ± 14.2 h (P<0.001)), administration of antibiotics upon admission in the emergency department (66.1% vs 80.3% (P<0.001)), and patient's room changes after admission (0.49 ± 0.57 vs 0.63 ± 0.76 (P<0.05)) were significantly lower in the R-PCR group.

CONCLUSION

This study confirmed that real-time screening of respiratory viruses with multiplex PCR upon admission provides essential assistance for healthcare workers in patient flow management.