RT-PCR testing has a high yield of viral diagnoses, but rapid communication does not lead to decreases in hospital admissions, shorter hospital stays, or less antibiotic use for children with acute respiratory infections.

Although correlations between CT values and clinical parameters in patients with single and multiple viral infection were found, the clinical importance of these findings is limited because individual differences in host-, viral and laboratory factors complicate the interpretation of statistically significant findings. In multiple infections, viral load cannot be used to differentiate between disease causing virus and innocent bystanders.

No abstract