Acute respiratory illness (ARI) is the most common reason athletes seek acute medical care and represents a significant challenge to the sport and exercise medicine (SEM) clinician working ‘in the field’.1 Faced with this issue, there is a need to determine if symptoms are caused by an acute respiratory infection (ARInf), establish if a specific antimicrobial treatment is indicated, evaluate the risk of transmission and provide appropriate advice regarding the safety of ongoing sports participation. Recent technological advances now offer clinicians the ability to rapidly (ie, in less than an hour) analyse respiratory samples and identify the presence of pathogens via genetic signatures. This approach, with molecular respiratory point-of-care testing (ResPOCT), can now be used not only for SARS-CoV-2 but also a panel of common pathogens causing respiratory infections, including viruses (eg, rhinovirus, seasonal coronaviruses, influenza viruses, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)) and some bacteria (eg, Bordetella pertussis , Chlamydia pneumoniae and Mycoplasma pneumoniae ). The accuracy and validity of ResPOCT have been tested against laboratory-based methods and are increasingly being used in ‘out-of-hospital’ settings.2 3 Moreover, the development of more versatile and portable devices should prompt the logical question of whether this approach should be deployed more widely to enhance the care provided to athletes. This commentary discusses the potential role and ongoing knowledge gaps regarding ResPOCT in athletes. Four studies4–7 have provided detailed insight regarding the deployment of ResPOCT in an SEM context. These studies have demonstrated that ResPOCT can be used successfully …

中文翻译：

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用于检测运动员呼吸道感染的即时检测：作用是什么？


急性呼吸道疾病 (ARI) 是运动员寻求紧急医疗护理的最常见原因，对“在现场”工作的运动和运动医学 (SEM) 临床医生构成了重大挑战。1 面对这个问题，有必要确定如果症状是由急性呼吸道感染 (ARInf) 引起的，请确定是否需要特定的抗菌治疗，评估传播风险，并就正在进行的体育活动的安全性提供适当的建议。最近的技术进步现在使临床医生能够快速（即在不到一小时内）分析呼吸道样本并通过遗传特征识别病原体的存在。这种方法结合分子呼吸道即时检测 (ResPOCT)，现在不仅可用于 SARS-CoV-2，还可用于一系列引起呼吸道感染的常见病原体，包括病毒（例如鼻病毒、季节性冠状病毒、流感病毒）。病毒和呼吸道合胞病毒（RSV））和一些细菌（例如百日咳博德特氏菌、肺炎衣原体和肺炎支原体）。 ResPOCT 的准确性和有效性已经过基于实验室的方法的测试，并且越来越多地在“院外”环境中使用。2 3 此外，更通用和便携式设备的开发应该引发这样一个逻辑问题：这种方法是否有效应更广泛地部署，以加强对运动员的护理。本评论讨论了 ResPOCT 在运动员中的潜在作用和持续的知识差距。四项研究 4-7 提供了有关在 SEM 环境中部署 ResPOCT 的详细见解。这些研究表明 ResPOCT 可以成功使用……