False-Negative Test Results Put Severe Influenza Patients at Serious Risk

Scientists report that half of influenza cases in patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) received a false-negative rapid influenza antigen test (RIAT). Such results could delay antiviral therapy for patients who were in the ICU with severe influenza. The team’s study is being presented at ASM Microbe, the American Society for Microbiology's annual meeting, in Atlanta.The researchers, led by Po-Yen Huang, M.D., Chang-Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan, performed a retrospec