Comparative evaluation of Allplex RV master assay and biofire respiratory panel 2.1 plus for detection of respiratory viruses

Respiratory tract infections are among the most prevalent diseases worldwide, causing significant morbidity and mortality, particularly in children, the elderly, and immunocompromised individuals. Early and accurate diagnosis is essential to reduce their health burden. Diagnostic methods include culture, serology, and rapid antigen tests; however, nucleic acid amplification assays, particularly multiplex PCR, are considered the gold standard due to their high sensitivity and specificity. This study aimed to compare the diagnostic performance of open-PCR multiplex platform Allplex RV Master Assay for the detection of respiratory viruses using a cartridge-based syndromic platform BioFire Respiratory Panel 2.1 plus (RP2.1plus) as a comparator. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 65 positive nasopharyngeal swabs, which were analyzed using both systems. Positive percent agreement ranged from 75 to 100%, negative percent agreement from 92.59 to 100%, and kappa values from 0.48 to 1.00. The good concordance between the two assays supports the use of Allplex Respiratory Panel 1 as a reliable alternative for rapid and accurate diagnosis of viral respiratory infections.