Numerous companies have developed combination tests that simultaneously look for influenza and COVID-19, which could be especially useful as the flu potentially makes a return this fall, The New York Times reports.
A "quad test" that can detect COVID-19, two types of influenza, and the respiratory syncytial virus is now available "at thousands of hospitals and clinics around the country," one of a number of similar tests, the Times writes. Though the Times notes that the flu season was "nonexistent" last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of Washington in Seattle's Dr. Geoffrey Baird said it could re-emerge in the fall, and combination tests would help determine whether a person has the flu or the coronavirus.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
The Nare Hotel: a charming hideaway on the Cornish coastThe Week Recommends Upgrade your classic seaside holiday at this five-star country house hotel
-
Today's political cartoons - March 6, 2025Cartoons Thursday's cartoons - weird science, Hoover's heels, and more
-
Gilbert & George and the Communists: an 'illuminating' look at the 'peculiar' world of the art duoThe Week Recommends The collaborative art pair's journey to Moscow in 1990 is chronicled in this 'excellent' book
-
Texas outbreak brings 1st US measles death since 2015Speed read The outbreak is concentrated in a 'close-knit, undervaccinated' Mennonite community in rural Gaines County
-
Mystery illness spreading in Congo rapidly kills dozensSpeed Read The World Health Organization said 53 people have died in an outbreak that originated in a village where three children ate a bat carcass
-
Ozempic can curb alcohol cravings, study findsSpeed read Weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy may also be helpful in limiting alcohol consumption
-
New form of H5N1 bird flu found in US dairy cowsSpeed Read This new form of bird flu is different from the version that spread through herds in the last year
-
Microplastics accumulating in human brains, study findsSpeed Read The amount of tiny plastic particles found in human brains increased dramatically from 2016 to 2024
-
FDA approves painkiller said to thwart addictionSpeed Read Suzetrigine, being sold as Journavx, is the first new pharmaceutical pain treatment approved by the FDA in 20 years
-
Study finds possible alternative abortion pillSpeed Read An emergency contraception (morning-after) pill called Ella could be an alternative to mifepristone for abortions
-
California declares bird flu emergencySpeed Read The emergency came hours after the nation's first person with severe bird flu infection was hospitalized
