Table 1.

Sensitivity of the influenza A and B RT-SIBA assays, compared with equivalent CDC RT-PCR assays

		No. of positive reactions (average time to positive result*)
		RT-SIBA		RT-PCR
Subtype	Copies/reaction	Influenza A	Influenza B	CDC-A	CDC-B
A (H1N1)	1000	12/12 (12 min)		12/12 (54 min)
	100	12/12 (15 min)		0/12
	10	12/12 (20 min)		0/12
A (H3N2)	1000	12/12 (11 min)		12/12 (50 min)
	100	12/12 (14 min)		12/12 (52 min)
	10	12/12 (16 min)		0/12
A (H5N1)	1000	12/12 (10 min)		12/12 (51 min)
	100	12/12 (12 min)		12/12 (53 min)
	10	12/12 (15 min)		0/12
B	1000		12/12 (10 min)		12/12 (51 min)
	100		12/12 (12 min)		12/12 (53 min)
	10		11/12 (13 min)		11/12 (56 min)

*Ramp time of RT-PCR reactions not included in the calculations