RIDTS
Rapid influenza diagnostic tests are commercially available testings for detecting antigens, and they yield results in approximately 15 minutes with higher sensitivity and greater accuracy. The commercial rapid influenza diagnostic tests do not require any outpatient setting and have the CLIA-waive. The rapid diagnostic tests vary with the types of different types of influenza viruses. Some rapid influenza diagnostic tests require an analyzer or reader device to improve sensitivity and standardize the results. None of the tests in the assays of RIDTS gives any piece of evidence about the influenza virus A subtypes.
The types of specimens, i.e., nasal swabs or washes and throat, vary for the test’s acceptability to perform. The specificity, especially the sensitivity of rapid influenza diagnostic tests, is not higher than viral cultures and varies by the test we use. As the sensitivity of RIDTS is lower, the physicians use other molecular assays like RT-PCR to confirm the presence of the influenza virus, especially during the outbreak of the influenza virus in the community. The likelihood of false-positive results is way lower than false-negative results. As a result of the interpretation of a rapid influenza diagnostic test, the physicians take the test’s negative and positive estimated value as the community’s level of influenza activity.