Evaluation of two commercially available test methods to determine the feasibility of testing for respiratory syncytial virus in a community hospital laboratory.

The feasibility of performing respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) testing in a community hospital laboratory was assessed. The Abbott RSV EIA Kit, an enzyme immunoassay (EIA), and the Ortho Respiratory Syncytial Virus Identification Reagent, a direct fluorescent antibody (DFA) technique, were evaluated in terms of technologist time, result time, cost, and agreement of results. There was little difference in the amount of technologist time required for either method. The DFA technique was shown to be much less expensive than the EIA method and also required at least 50% less time to generate a final result. When compared with an indirect fluorescent antibody technique, the EIA technique was more sensitive (87%) than the DFA method (81%). Both methods showed 100% specificity. Based on the findings of this study, the DFA technique was determined to be the more feasible method for a community hospital laboratory to use for the rapid detection of RSV.