Field evaluation of TaqMan Array Card (TAC) for the simultaneous detection of multiple respiratory viruses in children with acute respiratory infection

Background: Multipathogen reverse transcription real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) platforms have proven useful in surveillance for acute respiratory illness (ARI) and study of respiratory outbreaks of unknown etiology. The TaqMan (R) Array Card (TAC, Life Technologies (TM)), can simultaneously test 7 clinical specimens for up to 21 individual pathogens (depending on arrangement of controls and use of duplicate wells) by arrayed singleplex RT-qPCR on a single assay card, using minimal amounts of clinical specimens. A previous study described the development of TAC for the detection of respiratory viral and bacterial pathogens; the assay was evaluated against well-characterized analytical materials and a limited collection of human clinical specimens. Objectives: We wished to compare TAC assay performance against standard individual RT-qPCR assays for respiratory viral detection, focusing on 10 viruses (adenovirus, human metapneumovirus, human parainfluenza viruses 1-4, influenza viruses A and B, respiratory syncytial virus, and rhinovirus) from a larger collection of human specimens. Study design: We used specimens from 942 children with ARI enrolled systematically in a population-based, ARI surveillance study (New Vaccine Surveillance Network, NVSN). Results: Compared with standard individual RT-qPCR assays, the sensitivity of TAC for the targeted viruses ranged from 54% to 95% (54%, 56%, and 75% for adenovirus, human parainfluenza viruses-1 and -2, respectively, and 82%-95% for the other viruses). Assay specificity was 99%, and coefficients of variation for virus controls ranged from 1.5% to 4.5%. Conclusion: The TAC assay should prove useful for multipathogen studies and rapid outbreak response. (C) 2013 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.