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Rapid tests for influenza are being used increasingly, but little information is available about the clinical effects of faster diagnosis in adults. Investigators in Rochester, New York, retrospectively compared the management of 86 hospitalized influenza patients aged ≥18 years whose rapid antigen test results were positive with the management of 80 such patients who did not receive rapid testing or whose results were negative.
The rapid antigen-positive patients were less likely to receive antibiotics (86% vs. 99%; P<0.002) and more likely to receive an antiviral agent (73% vs. 8%; P<0.001) than were the other patients. Multivariate analysis revealed that a positive rapid antigen test was the only clinical variable independently associated…