ArticleEuropean journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology2014
No impact of early real-time PCR screening for respiratory viruses on length of stay and use of antibiotics in elderly patients hospitalized with symptoms of a respiratory tract infection in a single center in Norway.
Article in European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 25 citations in OpenAlex.
- Nucleic Acid-based Testing for Noninfluenza Viral Pathogens in Adults with Suspected Community-acquired Pneumonia. An Official American Thoracic Society Clinical Practice Guideline.American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine · 2021Guideline
- Impact of Real-Time Multiplex PCR Testing for Respiratory Viruses on Antibiotic Use.Infectious diseases & clinical microbiology · 2025Article
- The long-term prognostic value of serum 25(OH)D, albumin, and LL-37 levels in acute respiratory diseases among older adults.BMC geriatrics · 2022Article
- Noninterruptive Clinical Decision Support Decreases Ordering of Respiratory Viral Panels during Influenza Season.Applied clinical informatics · 2020Article
- Outbreak of Human Metapneumovirus in a Nursing Home: A Clinical Perspective.Journal of the American Medical Directors Association · 2020Article
- Opportunities Revealed for Antimicrobial Stewardship and Clinical Practice with Implementation of a Rapid Respiratory Multiplex Assay.Journal of clinical microbiology · 2019Article
- The effect of respiratory viral assay panel on antibiotic prescription patterns at discharge in adults admitted with mild to moderate acute exacerbation of COPD: a retrospective before- after study.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2019Article
- Contribution of the FilmArray Respiratory Panel in the management of adult and pediatric patients attending the emergency room during 2015-2016 influenza epidemics: An interventional study.International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases · 2019Article
- Respiratory tract virus infections in the elderly with pneumonia.BMC geriatrics · 2019Article
- Review
- Inappropriate Use of Antimicrobials for Lower Respiratory Tract Infections in Elderly Patients: Patient- and Community-Related Implications and Possible Interventions.Drugs & aging · 2018Article
- Multiplex Respiratory Virus Testing for Antimicrobial Stewardship: A Prospective Assessment of Antimicrobial Use and Clinical Outcomes Among Hospitalized Adults.The Journal of infectious diseases · 2017Article
- Clinical Utility of On-Demand Multiplex Respiratory Pathogen Testing among Adult Outpatients.Journal of clinical microbiology · 2016Article
- Hospital Resource Utilization and Patient Outcomes Associated with Respiratory Viral Testing in Hospitalized Patients.Emerging infectious diseases · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
We tested the hypothesis that the results of real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analyses for respiratory viruses would reduce antibiotic treatment and length of stay in elderly patients hospitalized with respiratory infections. Within 24 h of hospital admission, a total of 922 patients aged ≥60 years were interviewed for symptoms of ongoing respiratory tract infection. Symptomatic patients were swabbed for oropharyngeal/nasopharyngeal presence of viral pathogens immediately by members of the study group. During a 2-month period, non-symptomatic volunteers among interviewed patients were swabbed as well (controls). Oropharyngeal/nasopharyngeal swabs were analyzed with real-time PCR for nine common respiratory viruses. A total of 147 out of 173 symptomatic patients and 56 non-symptomatic patients (controls) agreed to participate in the study. The patients were allocated to three cohorts: (1) symptomatic and PCR-positive (S/PCR+), (2) symptomatic and PCR-negative (S/PCR-), or (3) non-symptomatic and PCR-negative (control). There were no non-symptomatic patients with a positive PCR result. A non-significant difference in the frequency of empiric antibiotic administration was found when comparing the S/PCR+ to the S/PCR- cohort; 16/19 (84 %) vs. 99/128 (77 %) (χ(2) = 0.49). Antibiotic treatment was withdrawn in only two patients in the S/PCR+ cohort after receiving a positive viral diagnosis. The length of stay did not significantly differ between the S/PCR+ and the S/PCR- groups. We conclude that, at least in our general hospital setting, access to early viral diagnosis by real-time PCR had little impact on the antimicrobial treatment or length of hospitalization of elderly patients.
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