Table 1.
Comparison of Binax NOW, cytospin-enhanced DFA and TaqMan RT-PCR for detection influenza positives
| True positives detected (%)a |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Binax NOWb | Cytopsin DFA | TaqMan RT-PCR | |
| Influenza A | 35 (52.2%) | 62 (92.5%) | 67 (100%) |
| Influenza B | 35 (53.8%) | 65 (100%) | 65 (100%) |
| Total | 70 (53.0%) | 127 (96.2%) | 132 (100%) |
a
Both PCR and DFA were more sensitive than Binax (p < 0.0001). PCR and DFA sensitivities were not significantly different (p = 0.0736); McNemar's test.
b
Two samples testing positive for influenza B by all three methods, also tested falsely positive for influenza A. Eight true positive samples (two influenza A and six influenza B) were not reactive until ≥30 min of incubation and were called negative.