In a routine influenza season, patient testing to diagnose influenza is often done by rapid tests that can be performed in physician’s offices, emergency departments and clinics.
Alternatively, many clinical laboratories perform viral culture and some perform polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for influenza detection. For routine public health surveillance, public health laboratories use a combination of viral culture and PCR, a highly sensitive molecular assay that yields definitive results within a few hours. Other diagnostic tests available for influenza include serology, rapid antigen testing and immunofluorescence assays.