Emerging point of care tests for influenza: innovation or status quo.

Background: Point of care tests (POCTs) for influenza potentially offer earlier diagnosis, enabling specific treatment, infection control measures and greater patient convenience and satisfaction. Current POCTs have limited sensitivity, some cannot distinguish influenza types, none differentiate subtypes and are relatively expensive.

Aims:  To identify and characterise influenza POCTs expected to be available for clinical use in the U.