ArticleAntibiotics (Basel, Switzerland)2025
The Impact of Rapid Molecular Diagnostics for Influenza on Antibiotic Stewardship in the Emergency Department-An Observational Retrospective Study.
Article in Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- The Role and Importance of Procalcitonin (PCT) Testing in Rational Antibiotic Prescribing and Antibiotic Stewardship Programs.Immunity, inflammation and disease · 2026Review
- Factors associated with antibiotic initiation and bacterial coinfection in adults with confirmed influenza.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Clinical Analysis of Neonatal Influenza in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: A Retrospective Study.Immunity, inflammation and disease · 2026Article
- Speeding up respiratory diagnosis: clinical drivers, barriers, and system readiness for rapid molecular point-of-care testing in Saudi Arabia.Frontiers in public health · 2026Review
- Impact of Real-Time Multiplex PCR Testing for Respiratory Viruses on Antibiotic Use.Infectious diseases & clinical microbiology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThe clinical diagnosis of respiratory tract infections (RTIs) may result in unnecessary antibiotic treatment due to clinical exams' low sensitivity and specificity to differentiate viral from bacterial infections and costly diagnostic work-ups. Unnecessary antibiotic consumption drives antibiotic resistance. We explored whether a rapid influenza-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay reduced antibiotic use in an emergency room before the COVID-19 pandemic.
methodsWe conducted an observational retrospective study of patients with RTI symptoms treated in the ER of the University Hospital Basel from September 2014 to June 2015. We evaluated the impact of rapid diagnostic results, such as an influenza-specific PCR, blood sample results, and radiological imaging, on antibiotic prescription rates. Patient-related confounding factors were included since a patient's clinical condition affects doctors' clinical decision-making.
resultsWe included 607 patients with RTIs, tested with PCR for influenza A or B. Logistic regression showed that the odds ratio (OR) of being treated with antibiotics was significantly reduced by more than two-thirds in patients with a positive influenza PCR result (OR = 0.37; 95% CI, 0.22-0.59;
conclusionsOur study provides real-world evidence from a pre-COVID-19 ER setting of diagnostic tools used for RTI evaluation and their impact on antibiotic prescriptions. Rapid influenza-specific PCR results may affect the prescription rate of antibiotics but should be seen as part of a comprehensive diagnostic approach to guide clinical decision-making.
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