Influenza is associated with high morbidity and mortality, is preventable by vaccination/ chemoprophylaxis and is treatable by specific antivirals.
The laboratory diagnosis of influenza can help guide the clinical management of influenza patients. Patients with lower respiratory tract illness, especially children and adults with medical conditions increasing their risk for developing complicated influenza, should be considered for rapid influenza virus diagnostic testing. This assay is a qualitative analysis detecting Influenza virus A type and B type antigens in the nasopharyngeal samples using immunochromatography. With this test method, influenza virus infection status can be discriminated with availability of results in a clinically relevant time frame to complement the use of antiviral medications for treatment and chemoprophylaxis.
25 Jul