Pediatricians have two types of daily consultations: regular well visits to check the normal development of infants, toddlers and adolescents, as well as problem-focused visits, to provide diagnosis and treatment in the case of illness. Beyond the first year of life, 70% of patient visits to pediatricians are problem-focused visits.¹ 

Given the high number of consultations per day (which are especially high during respiratory season), pediatricians need to be able to diagnose and treat patients quickly. Being able to provide clear information to reassure parents and discard the need for unnecessary treatment is essential.

When children are sick, anxious parents expect answers and treatment fast. Pediatric clinicians want to provide those diagnostic results that enable timely, informed treatment decisions, so that kids can get back to being kids as quickly as possible. 

Parents often turn to their pediatrician when their child is suffering from common respiratory symptoms: fever, cough, runny or stuff nose, and sore throat. Because the specific etiology is usually uncertain, diagnostic testing for respiratory infections is necessary to determine the cause.

Syndromic testing offers a comprehensive approach to diagnostic testing. Pediatricians can consider a wide range of potential pathogens that may be causing the child’s symptoms, which is especially useful when the clinical presentation is nonspecific or when multiple pathogens can cause similar symptoms. Traditional diagnostic methods are time-consuming and may involve costly send-out tests. 

Onsite infectious disease diagnostics is convenient for patients and helps avoid the expense of offsite or send-out testing. Pediatricians can determine the causative pathogen for a child’s infection, avoid unnecessary antimicrobials, and confidently give parents a targeted treatment plan. 

BIOFIRE^® SPOTFIRE^® is our innovative multiplex PCR solution for point-of-care testing, offering rapid and actionable results onsite. By providing fast results on a comprehensive grouping of pathogens in one test, BIOFIRE^® SPOTFIRE^® gives pediatricians the results they need to make timely, appropriate patient management decisions.