At-home flu and COVID tests can help people locate the source of their misery during what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has classified as the first “high severity” flu season for all age groups in seven years.
But how accurate are the tests, and who should take them? Northeastern Global News talked to Northeastern health experts to find out.
Most of the flu kits available for purchase at pharmacies and online are 10- or 15-minute rapid antigen tests similar to at-home COVID tests. Test takers use nasal swabs to check for flu A and B as well as COVID-19.
Neil Maniar, director of Northeastern’s master of public health program, says, “It’s always a good idea to get tested and know what you have if you suspect you might have one of these very contagious illnesses.”
“That also gives you information on the proper course of treatment for that particular illness,” he says.
Symptoms of flu and COVID-19 can overlap, making it hard to distinguish one from the other. Both illnesses can cause fever, fatigue, sore throat, muscle pain and headaches, says the CDC.
“The faster you can get an antiviral for the flu, the more effective it is going to be,” says Brandon Dionne, associate clinical professor in pharmacy and health systems sciences.
“It’s a great tool. You have a lot more options for trying to keep people safe and healthy,” says Samuel Scarpino, an expert in pathogen surveillance and director of Northeastern’s AI + Life Sciences.
The at-home flu and COVID tests were purchasable in Europe before becoming widely available in the U.S. within the past year, he says.
There are several combination antigen tests to choose from, including Flowflex Plus COVID-19 and Flu A/B Home Test, CorDx Typast at-Home Flu A/B and COVID-19 Rapid Test Kit and iHealth COVID-19, Flu A&B 3-in-1 Antigen Rapid Test.
Many of the tests were authorized for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In October, Healgen Rapid Check COVID-19/Flu A&B Antigen Test became the first over-the-counter at-home flu test to be approved by the FDA using a traditional, non-emergency marketing pathway.
The tests have proved to have a good accuracy rating, Dionne says. “If it’s positive, you can trust the results, but if it’s negative, it doesn’t fully rule out disease.”
In the case of Healgen, the FDA says the test correctly identified 99% of negative and 92% of positive SARS-CoV-2 samples as well as 99.9% of negative flu A and B samples and 92.5% and 90.5% of positive flu A and flu B samples, respectively.
To combat the risk of false negative results, the FDA advises individuals who continue to have symptoms such as fever, cough and shortness of breath to follow up with their health care provider.
GoodRx says the most accurate at-home test is a PCR test, like Pixel by Labcorp, which tests genetic material for flu, COVID and also RSV. It is a mail-in test and thus takes the longest to get results.
A 30-minute molecular test called Lucira was actually the first at-home flu and COVID test authorized for emergency use by the FDA in February 2023. But the company that manufactured it was going bankrupt and industry reports say its current owner, Pfizer, plans to discontinue the combination test.
People can also go to their pharmacy to be tested for flu and COVID at the same time, Maniar says.
COVID is still circulating, and “this has been a particularly bad flu season,” he says.
According to the CDC, there have been an estimated 33 million illnesses, 430,000 hospitalizations and 19,000 fatalities from the flu this season — and it isn’t over yet.
“There’s been a greater number of serious cases as a result of this flu strain,” Maniar says, adding that it is not too late to get vaccinated.
Dionne says the over-the-counter flu and COVID tests were a natural next step after at-home COVID testing broke new medical ground.
The federal government is still providing free COVID tests but insurance coverage varies for at-home flu tests, though health savings and flexible spending accounts may help cover the cost of tests that range in cost from about $15 to $40.
“If you’re symptomatic, maybe consider doing the multiple tests,” Dionne says. “If you’re just screening to make sure you’re not going to transmit COVID, using that test alone makes sense.”
Scarpino says he still uses over-the-counter tests “before I go to see parents and grandparents. I’d rather just have that peace of mind.”