TruQuick™ Influenza A/B

Influenza (commonly known as ‘flu’) is a highly contagious, acute viral infection of the respiratory tract. It is a communicable disease easily transmitted through the coughing and sneezing of aerosolized droplets containing live virus. 1 Influenza outbreaks occur each year during the fall and winter months. Type A viruses are typically more prevalent than type B viruses and are associated with most serious influenza epidemics, while type B infections are usually milder. The gold standard of laboratory diagnosis is 14-day cell culture with one of a variety of cell lines that can support the growth of influenza virus. 2 Cell culture has limited clinical utility, as results are obtained too late in the clinical course for effective patient intervention. Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) is a newer method that is generally more sensitive than culture with improved detection rates over culture of 2-23%. 3 However, RT-PCR is expensive, complex and must be performed in specialized laboratories. The TruQuick Influenza A/B (Swab/Nasal Aspirate) qualitatively detects the presence of Influenza A and/or Influenza B antigen in nasopharyngeal swab or throat swab or nasal aspirate specimens, providing results within 15 minutes. The test uses antibodies specific for Influenza A and Influenza B to selectively detect Influenza A and Influenza B antigen in nasopharyngeal swab, throat swab or nasal aspirate specimens.