A randomized, controlled trial of the impact of early and rapid diagnosis of viral infections in children brought to an emergency department with febrile respiratory tract illnesses.

OBJECTIVES: Acute respiratory tract infections represent a significant burden on pediatric emergency departments (ED) and families. We hypothesized that early and rapid diagnosis of a viral infection alleviates the need for ancillary testing and antibiotic treatment.

STUDY DESIGN: We conducted a randomized, controlled trial of children 3 to 36 months of age with febrile acute respiratory tract infections at a pediatric ED. Two hundred four subjects were randomly assigned to receive rapid respiratory viral testing on admission or a routine ED admission protocol. Outcome measures were: mean length of visits, rate of ancillary tests, and antibiotic prescription in the ED. A follow-up call was made to all study subjects to inquire about further healthcare visits, ancillary testing, and antibiotic prescription after ED discharge.

RESULTS: We did not find a statistically significant difference in ED length of visits, rate of ancillary testing, or antibiotic prescription rate in the ED between the study groups. There was, however, a significant reduction in antibiotic prescription after ED discharge (in the group who had rapid viral testing RR = 0.36; 95% CI = 0.14, 0.95).

CONCLUSIONS: Rapid multi-viral testing in the ED did not significantly affect ED patient treatment but may reduce antibiotic prescription in the community after discharge from the ED, suggesting a novel strategy to alter community physician antibiotic prescription patterns.