Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Flu - Influenza, Merck, Technology / 11.09.2017
New Rapid Flu Tests Are Simple, Fast and Accurate
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Jesse Papenburg, MD MSc FRCPC
FRQS Clinical Research Scholar
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, McGill University
Div. of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Dept. of Microbiology
Montreal Children’s Hospital
Montreal, QC
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Influenza viruses cause yearly epidemics of acute respiratory illness affecting 5 to 30 percent of the population. Diagnosing influenza on the basis of only clinical symptoms is difficult because its manifestations vary and are nonspecific. Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is the gold standard for flu diagnosis, but these tests must be sent to a laboratory and have turnaround times that extend beyond the clinical encounter. Rapid and accurate diagnosis of influenza has the potential to improve patient outcomes and decrease health care costs.
Since 2011, two novel classes of rapid influenza diagnostic assays i.e., with results available in <30 minutes, have been commercialized with claims of improved sensitivities based on technological improvements: 1) automated immunochromatographic antigen detection tests (digital immunoassays, DIAs) and 2) rapid nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs).
Our systematic review and meta-analysis synthesized the available evidence and compared the diagnostic accuracy of commercially available rapid tests for the detection of influenza A and B infection:
- Overall, the rapid tests displayed very high specificities (≥98%). Physicians can therefore diagnose influenza with confidence on the basis of a positive RIDT, DIA, or rapid NAAT result.
- The pooled sensitivities for DIAs (80.0% for influenza A and 76.8% for influenza B) and rapid NAATs (91.6% for influenza A and 95.4% for influenza B) are markedly higher than those for RIDTs (54.4% for influenza A and 53.2% for influenza B).