A Combined COVID/Flu RAT Is Coming, But Not in Time for This Snotty Nose Season

Sick of trying to guess if that tickle in your throat is COVID, the flu or somethin' else entirely?

We’re only a couple of weeks into winter and it feels like every second person you speak to is sick.

But it’s not just COVID running rampant (will that rona nightmare ever end?)—cases of influenza have also spiked this year.

May saw an explosion of cases across Australia not seen since before the pandemic, so it seems staying indoors and wearing masks the last two years really did stop the spread of all kinds of nasty germs, huh?

There have been close to 90,000 cases of the flu this season already and hundreds of people have been hospitalised in what’s being described as a “horror” flu season already.

That’s why biotech companies are racing to develop a rapid antigen test (RAT) to detect the flu and, while they won’t be available to help this year, they could be taking up space in our medicine cabinets at home next year.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA, the regulators that decide what’s medically safe for us) set out relevant guidelines earlier this year to inform companies of the kind of data they’d need to get their RATs certified.

This means it’s going to take a little longer for those companies working on them to undertake all the required safety tests and be ready to present to the TGA for approval.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, diagnostic testing giant, Roche, has been working on a combined COVID/flu testing product but any kind of at-home test prototype is a while away.

“The reality is that with the time to complete additional studies along with regulatory review timeframes, this will be too long to meet the needs of the current Australian respiratory season,” Roche Australia Managing Director, Allison Rossiter, said.

There are already eight tests to detect the flu that have been approved by the TGA, but they all have to be accessed through a certified medical setting.

So, you can still get a flu test at a PCR clinic (and plenty of people are!) or at the doctor’s, and if you’re feeling snotty, that’s exactly what you should do. 

And if you haven't had a flu vax yet, you can get one for free in most Aussie states now, so check that out!

Header image: Rod Long via Unsplash (edited).