Effect of target-enriched multiplex polymerase chain reaction on patient outcomes and costs during the 2013–14 influenza season

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the initial use of rapid antigen influenza diagnostic test (RIDT) for the detection of influenza A (H1N1-09). Nasopharyngeal samples were tested from 246 patients for H1N1-09 using target-enriched multiplex polymerase chain reaction (TEM-PCR), of which 163 were additionally tested via RIDT. RIDTs had a sensitivity of 18.7% compared with TEM-PCR as the reference standard. Patients with false-negative RIDTs were withheld from 111 days of oseltamivir and 65 days of isolation. Patients negative for H1N1 via TEM-PCR had antiviral therapy immediately stopped, thereby evading 408 days of oseltamivir and 315 days of unnecessary isolation. This cost avoidance saved US$208,982.