Question

1. Rapid Influenza testing in children and adults.

Adult Assessment Tools or Diagnostic Tests:
Include the following:

• A description of how the assessment tool or diagnostic test you were assigned is used in healthcare.
  • What is its purpose?
  • How is it conducted?
  • What information does it gather?
• Based on your research, evaluate the test or the tool’s validity and reliability, and explain any issues with sensitivity, reliability, and predictive values. Include references in appropriate APA formatting.

Answer 1

Rapid influenza diagnostic test RIDTs are the imuno assays that can identify the presence of influenza A and B virus in both adults and childrens.

The presence of virus is found out in the specimen collected from the patient usually the respiratory specimen and identified in qualitative way as positive or negative.

The reference standards for the confirmation of the virus in the respiratory specimen is by reverse transcriptase polymerisation reaction or viral culture.

The RIDTSs reaction results can be obtained in a time period of about 15 minutes. But RIDTs donot include rapid molecular assays that have higher sensitivity to detect the virus in the given specimen.

The main purpose of the test is to help with diagnostic and treatment decisions making in patients so that the physicians can recommend an appropriate anti viral treatment for the same. Another purpose of RIDTs is for public health to detect influenza outbreaks.

However RIDTs have limited sensitivity to detect the influenza virus in the respiratory specimen when compared to RT-PCR or viral culture. So the negative RIDT test results should be interpreted in a cautious manner.

Reference: Espanol. Guidance: use of rapid diagnostic test. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.