Influenza is an acute respiratory infection caused by the influenza virus, or influenza for short. The clinical manifestations of influenza are mainly high fever, malaise, headache, cough, generalized muscle pain and other symptoms of systemic toxicity, and the main targets of infection are children and the elderly.
New coronary pneumonia is an acute respiratory infection caused by the 2019 novel coronavirus, with fever, dry cough and malaise as the main manifestations, and a few patients with upper respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms such as nasal congestion, runny nose and diarrhea.
Severe cases tend to develop respiratory distress after 1 week, with rapid progression to acute respiratory distress syndrome, septic shock, uncorrectable metabolic acidosis and bleeding and clotting dysfunction and multi-organ failure in severe cases.
This shows that influenza and neocon are very similar in terms of onset symptoms. Some studies have shown that co-infection of influenza with neocon can lead to more severe symptoms. November and December are the peak months of the year for influenza, and cross-contamination of influenza is highly likely to occur. With the current New Crown epidemic still prevalent and coinciding with a high influenza season, it is critical to pay attention to good personal protective measures, and CDC recommends that some people at high risk of influenza infection complete their influenza vaccination by October.
But with symptoms so similar, how do we tell if it's the flu or the new crown?
The virus is extremely small and invisible, and we need to use certain technical means to discriminate it. Rapid nucleic acid test is one of the most common means to identify viral nucleic acid at the genetic level, which is the most accurate and convenient means at present.
How many steps are there in the Nucleic Acid Rapid Test?
Currently, there are four steps in the rapid nucleic acid test: sampling - sample pretreatment - nucleic acid extraction - amplification and analysis. In the sample pretreatment step, the sample information is entered and the sample is spiked; in the nucleic acid extraction step, the nucleic acid in the sample is purified; in the amplification and analysis step, the purified nucleic acid is replicated and compared with the standard sample, and the results are reported.
Due to the extremely infectious nature of the neo-coronavirus, a rapid nucleic acid test for neo-coronavirus is required as soon as symptoms appear, regardless of whether it is an influenza virus or a neo-coronavirus. Most hospitals now have reagents and equipment for rapid nucleic acid testing for neo-coronavirus in their fever clinics. Through the continuous improvement of technology, the New Coronavirus rapid test solutions of major IVD manufacturers have significantly shortened the response time, achieving a 1-hour speed-up in response time.
