Incorporating influenza molecular point-of-care testing (POCT) into general practice may improve clinical care, suggests research published in the British Journal of General Practice.
The mixed-methods study was conducted in six general practices that had not previously participated in respiratory virology sampling, which are part of the Royal College of General Practitioners Research and Surveillance Centre English sentinel surveillance network, from February 2019 to May 2019.
The study found that among the six general practices, 312 tests were performed. Of these, 276 were used for quantitative analysis, of which, 60 were positive for influenza and 216 were negative.
The average swabbing rate was 0.4 per 1000 population, and the swab positivity rate was between 16.7 per cent and 41.4 per cent.
Given a positive influenza POCT result, the odds ratio of receiving an antiviral was 14.1 (95% CI, 2.9-70.0; P<.001) and of receiving an antibiotic was 0.4 (95% CI, 0.2-0.8; P=.01) compared with patients with a negative result.
Qualitative analysis showed it was feasible to implement POCT, but there is variation in the process.
Simon de Lusignan, professor of primary care and clinical informatics, lead author of the article, says: “This study suggests molecular POCT for influenza might be incorporated into primary care. This may be particularly important for the coming winter where we may see co-circulation of influenza and COVID-19.”