Rapid influenza test are more accurate for young children
By Dr.Ravi at 16 February, 2010, 7:03 am
The rapid influenza test those were know to have more sensitivity than specificity are now shown to be more accurate for younger childern.
These tests can be used for common flu as well as the H1N1 influenza that we all know as swine flu. With this rapid test we can detect the presence of virus causing it in minutes.
Lets see what the opinion about it.
“The rapid influenza diagnostic test is quite specific but lacks sensitivity,” Cruz said. That means a positive rapid test result was “highly accurate” in diagnosing H1N1 infection, but a negative result did not rule out the possibility of infection, the study found.
Sensitivity was significantly higher — 55.5 percent — in younger children, particularly those under 2 years old.
“It’s known that these are not perfect tests,” said Dr. Nathan Litman, a professor of pediatrics at Albert Einstein School of Medicine and chief of pediatric infectious diseases at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City. “The thing about them is that they can rapidly identify about half of patients with influenza early on in the emergency room. But if this test is negative, there is still a chance they have influenza.”
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