Current:Home > MyFDA authorizes the first at-home test for COVID-19 and the flu-VaTradeCoin
FDA authorizes the first at-home test for COVID-19 and the flu
lotradecoin reliability View Date:2024-12-25 23:46:57
The Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization on Friday for the first at-home test that can simultaneously detect both COVID-19 and the flu.
With a shallow nasal swab, the single-use kit can provide results within 30 minutes indicating whether a person is positive or negative for COVID, as well as influenza A and influenza B, which are two common strains of the flu.
People 14 and older can generally perform the test on themselves, the FDA says. Those between the ages of 2 and 13 can get results with the help of an adult.
Dr. Jeff Shuren, the director of the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health, called the test as a "major milestone."
"We are eager to continue advancing greater access to at-home infectious disease testing to best support public health needs," Shuren said in a statement.
The test was developed by Lucira Health, a California-based company that was also the first to receive FDA approval for at-home rapid COVID tests back in 2020.
According to the FDA, in people showing symptoms, the Lucira home kit accurately detected 88.3% of COVID infections and 90.1% of influenza A infections. The test can identify influenza B in lab studies, the FDA said. But because there are not enough cases of the virus circulating in real-world settings, further testing will be required, officials said.
The FDA also warned that, similar to all rapid diagnostic tests, there is a risk of false positive and false negative results. The agency says individuals who test positive for COVID or the flu should take appropriate precautions and follow-up with a health care provider, while people who receive a negative result of either COVID or influenza B should confirm it with a molecular test preformed in a lab.
Individuals who test negative but continue to experience symptoms of fever, cough or shortness of breath should also follow up with their health care provider in case of other respiratory viruses, the FDA said.
The dual-purposed test comes after a surge of COVID, the flu and respiratory syncytial virus -- or RSV — that strained hospitals across the country last fall.
"The collective impact of COVID-19, flu and RSV underscore the importance of diagnostic tests for respiratory viruses," the FDA said in a statement.
Over the past few weeks, COVID-related deaths and hospitalizations have begun to fall, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Similarly, rates of flu and RSV-related hospitalizations have been going down, the CDC found.
veryGood! (8522)
Related
- I loved to hate pop music, until Chappell Roan dragged me back
- Drugmaker Mallinckrodt may renege on $1.7 billion opioid settlement
- Logan Paul and Nina Agdal Are Engaged: Inside Their Road to Romance
- Why Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson Are One of Hollywood's Best Love Stories
- US inflation likely edged up last month, though not enough to deter another Fed rate cut
- Supreme Court says 1st Amendment entitles web designer to refuse same-sex wedding work
- Inside Clean Energy: In a World Starved for Lithium, Researchers Develop a Method to Get It from Water
- Mega Millions jackpot rises to $820 million, fifth-largest ever: What you need to know
- When is the 'Survivor' Season 47 finale? Here's who's left; how to watch and stream part one
- Andrea Bocelli Weighs in on Kim Kardashian and Kourtney Kardashian's Feud
Ranking
- 'The Voice' Season 26 finale: Coach Michael Bublé scores victory with Sofronio Vasquez
- And the award goes to AI ft. humans: the Grammys outline new rules for AI use
- Penelope Disick Gets Sweet 11th Birthday Tributes From Kourtney Kardashian, Scott Disick & Travis Barker
- Here's How Margot Robbie Really Achieves Her Barbie Blonde Hair
- ParkMobile $32.8 million settlement: How to join class
- Arizona’s New Governor Takes on Water Conservation and Promises to Revise the State’s Groundwater Management Act
- Shein invited influencers on an all-expenses-paid trip. Here's why people are livid
- Teacher's Pet: Mary Kay Letourneau and the Forever Shocking Story of Her Student Affair
Recommendation
-
Most reports ordered by California’s Legislature this year are shown as missing
-
Boy, 5, dies after being run over by father in Indiana parking lot, police say
-
Powering Electric Cars: the Race to Mine Lithium in America’s Backyard
-
The Truth About Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon's Enduring 35-Year Marriage
-
New Jersey targets plastic packaging that fills landfills and pollutes
-
Jessica Simpson Proves She's Comfortable In This Skin With Make-Up Free Selfie on 43rd Birthday
-
Why building public transit in the US costs so much
-
Powering Electric Cars: the Race to Mine Lithium in America’s Backyard