Clinical evaluation of a panel of multiplex quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assays for the detection of 16 respiratory viruses associated with community-acquired pneumonia

We developed a panel of multiplex quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (mqRT-PCR) assay consisting of seven internally controlled qRT-PCR assays to detect 16 different respiratory viruses. We compared the new mqRT-PCR with a previously reported two-tube mRT-PCR assay using 363 clinical sputum specimens. The mqRT-PCR assay performed comparably with the two-tube assay for most viruses, offering the advantages of quantitative analysis, easier performance, lower susceptibility to contamination, and shorter turnaround time in laboratories equipped with conventional real-time PCR instrumentation, and it could therefore be a valuable tool for routine surveillance of respiratory virus infections in China.