The Xpert Flu Assay cartridge is a next-generation nucleic acid amplification system that provides multiplexed PCR detection of the influenza A, influenza A 2009 H1N1, and influenza B viruses in approximately 70 min with minimal hands-on time. Six laboratories participated in a clinical trial comparing the results of the new Cepheid Xpert Flu Assay to those of culture or real-time PCR with arch...

Background: The Xpert MTB/RIF (Xpert) assay is a rapid PCR-based assay for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex DNA (MTBc) and mutations associated with rifampin resistance (RIF). An updated version introduced in 2011, the G4 Xpert, included modifications to probe B and updated analytic software. Methods: An analytical study was performed to assess Xpert detection of mutations as...

The first U.S. multicenter clinical trial to assess the performance of the Cepheid Xpert MRSA assay (Xpert MRSA) was conducted. The assay is a qualitative test designed for the rapid detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) directly from nares swabs. This novel test combines integrated nucleic acid extraction and automated real-time PCR for the detection of a MRSA-specifi...

OBJECTIVES In high-tuberculosis (TB)-endemic countries, comorbidity of pulmonary TB in hospitalised patients with non-communicable diseases is well documented. In this study, we evaluated the use of the Xpert(®) MTB/RIF assay for the detection of concomitant pulmonary TB in patients admitted to the University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia, with a primary obstetric or gynaecological conditio...

Application of real-time PCR for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis enables results to be obtained in about 2 h. A total of 340 nonrespiratory samples were processed using two real-time PCR assay kits: Xpert MTB/RIF and Cobas TaqMan MTB. The sensitivity and specificity of the Xpert assay were 95% and 100%, respectively, compared to 78% and 98% for the Cobas assay.

OBJECTIVE To measure the diagnostic yield of Bronchoalveolar Lavage (BAL) gene Xpert (Xpert MTB/RIF assay), to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) and rifampicin resistance and compare it with that of mycobacterial cultures in a suspected case of pulmonary tuberculosis. STUDY DESIGN An analytical study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY Department of Pulmonology, Fauji Foundation Hospital (FF...

A nonsputum triage test to rule out tuberculosis (TB) disease is a WHO high-priority diagnostic, and combinatory score based on 3-gene host signature has shown promise in discriminating TB from other illnesses. We evaluated the accuracy of an early-prototype cartridge assay (“Xpert MTB Host Response” or Xpert-MTB-HR-Prototype) this biobanked blood samples people living with HIV (PLHIV) against ...

OBJECTIVE To compare the sensitivity and specificity of Cepheid Gene Xpert®, MTB/RIF assay for direct detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) and rifampin (RIF) resistance with conventional methods in respiratory and non-respiratory clinical specimens. METHODS We used a cross sectional design to evaluate a diagnostic test at the TB Section of the Division of Microbiology, Centr...

Nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) for enterovirus RNA in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) have emerged as the new gold standard for diagnosis of enteroviral meningitis, and their use can improve the management and decrease the costs for caring for children with enteroviral meningitis. The Xpert EV assay (Cepheid, Sunnyvale, CA) is a rapid, fully automated real-time PCR test for the detection of...

Methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) isolates lacking mecA yet testing positive on the Xpert MRSA assay were recovered from culture for 7.7% of 248 Xpert-positive nasal samples. These "false-positive" Xpert results may be attributed to staphylococcal cassette chromosome (SCC) elements without the mecA gene. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) analysis revealed a diverse popu...