Background: Rhinovirus (RV), a major
cause of respiratory infection in humans, imposes an enormous economic
burden due to the direct and indirect costs associated with the illness.
Accurate and timely diagnosis is crucial for deciding the appropriate
clinical approach and minimizing unnecessary prescription of
antibiotics. Diagnosis of RV is extremely challenging due to genetic and
serological variability among its numerous types and their similarity
to enteroviruses.

Objective: We sought to develop a
rapid nucleic acid test that can be used for the detection of Rhinovirus
within both laboratory and near patient settings.

Study
design: We developed and evaluated a novel isothermal nucleic acid
amplification method called Reverse Transcription Strand Invasion-Based
Amplification (RT-SIBA) to rapidly detect Rhinovirus from clinical
specimens.

Result: The method, RT-SIBA, detected RV
in clinical specimens with high analytical sensitivity (96%) and
specificity (100%). The time to positive result was significantly
shorter for the RV RT-SIBA assay than for a reference RV nucleic acid
amplification method (RT-qPCR).

Conclusion: The
rapid detection time of the RV SIBA assay, as well as its compatibility
with portable instruments, will facilitate prompt diagnosis of infection
and thereby improve patient care.