Seasonal influenza leads to numerous illnesses and deaths each year.1 Early detection and treatment are crucial for vulnerable populations. While centralized lab testing is highly accurate, transporting samples can cause delays. Advances in point-of-care (POC) testing enable diagnostics to be performed near the patient care site, providing high sensitivity, specificity, and convenience.2 These advances, along with the impact of pandemics, have accelerated the shift of respiratory disease testing from centralized labs to point of care (POC) testing.
Dr. Allison McGeer, an expert in infectious diseases and epidemiologist, shared her insights on how POC technology enhances respiratory disease diagnosis and treatment. She highlighted that POC testing enables quick, accurate infection identification, supports faster clinical decisions, shortens emergency stays, and reduces antiviral misuse,1-4 leading to improved care for the individual and those exposed. Additionally, POC testing generates large amounts of data with varying degrees of granularity, empowering efficient public health assessments and interventions, which have become more important in the wake of pandemics.
Although transitioning respiratory disease diagnostics from laboratory to POC faces challenges such as building technical trust and adapting workflows, there is no doubt that POC represents a significant advancement and a future trend. The lessons learned from the pandemic can help us use this technology carefully and thoughtfully to provide better healthcare.
We hope you enjoy this insightful webinar.