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Updated: Jun 19, 2026

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Rapid Molecular Detection and Differentiation of Influenza Viruses A and B
Published on: January 30, 2017
Poor clinical sensitivity of rapid antigen test for influenza A pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus
Jan Felix Drexler1, Angelika Helmer, Heike Kirberg
1Institute of Virology, Bonn, Germany.
Emerging Infectious Diseases
|October 29, 2009
Abstract:
Influenza A pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus RNA was detected by reverse transcription-PCR in 144 clinical samples from Bonn, Germany. A common rapid antigen-based test detected the virus in only 11.1% of these samples. The paramount feature of rapid test-positive samples was high virus concentration. Antigen-based rapid tests appear unsuitable for virologic diagnostics in the current pandemic.

