You're not just imagining it - flu season is here and impacting more Americans than ever
Flu season is here in North America, even if it's a few weeks later than we usually expect it. After a slow ramp up, 40 states have reported high levels of illness in the weeks following the holidays.1 While COVID-19 has been a primary infection in the past few years, the CDC is reporting influenza as a surging illness for 2025.2 Researchers are still studying the interplay between COVID, the flu, RSV, and norovirus as seasonal threats; at the moment, it's unclear how rising rates of one virus impacts the others. That being said, it’s important to remain aware of the risk factors and prepare for exposure to these viruses during the fall and winter months.
A Yearly Tradition
While commonly referred to as flu season, several viruses with similar symptoms emerge towards the beginning of autumn: Influenza A and B, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), and SARS-CoV-2. As we move further away from the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, social gatherings continue to increase, allowing for these seasonal viruses to spread more than in the past years when people were separated. The economic burden of influenza season cannot be understated; one pre-COVID report estimated the total loss of earnings in the US to be $87.1 billion per season.3 In the first two weeks of 2025, the CDC has reported over 43,307 positive cases. Considering how many self-diagnose without a test, the true number is most likely higher.
The Value of Rapid Testing
Not all patients are able to get timely appointments to see their primary care doctors; however, a 2024 article in found that average wait time for the third next available appointment (an industry standard for appointment wait times) had moved to a staggering 38 days – well beyond the duration of a traditional flu infection.5 Urgent cares and emergency departments have begun to shoulder some of the same-day care that doctor’s offices traditionally filled.
The rise of urgent care clinics as replacements for primary care offices has presented a unique challenge: antibiotics overprescription. Because patients often demand answers during the same visit, providers will forgo testing and diagnose patients through observable symptoms such as fever and cough. One study found that 30% or more antibiotic prescriptions dispensed in an outpatient setting are given without an appropriate indication.6 This has led to fears of overprescribing antibiotics, particularly for suspected upper respiratory infections, which can lead to the formation of antibiotic-resistant strains of common infections. If testing becomes faster and easier, this could present an opportunity to accurately diagnose more patients and avoid excess prescriptions.
New Technologies for Proper Precautions
PCR tests can provide clinicians and patients with accurate and timely information to make optimal decisions on care options. While antigen tests are traditionally more affordable and easier to use than PCR, they are significantly less sensitive than PCR tests and can miss detection of infection in sick patients. Out-of-pocket costs can quickly accumulate for patients who opt for RT-PCR testing. A report from Kaiser Family Foundation estimates the median self-pay price for a PCR COVID-19 test is $91, compared to at-home rapid antigen tests at $11 per test;7 ultimately, this forces many to choose the cheaper, less accurate option.
Another advantage PCR provides is the ability for multiplex panel tests. Multiplex panels can detect multiple pathogens using the same singular sample, providing more answers than a singleplex test that can only provide one result. By using multiplex technologies, providers are able to streamline their diagnostic evaluations of patients instead of running multiple tests to determine one result. During flu season, multiplex panels are paramount in rapidly determining what virus a patient has so they begin the appropriate treatment and remain home to avoid spreading the virus.8
To improve antibiotic stewardship with fast, accurate testing, several companies are working on new technologies for rapid PCR testing. Fluxergy, an Irvine-based medical diagnostics manufacturer, is applying the lessons they learned during the COVID-19 pandemic to create new solutions for better flu testing. The company is developing a rapid multiplex PCR panel that can detect and differentiate Flu A/Flu B/COVID/RSV in <30 minutes for CLIA-waived settings, combining the quality of traditional laboratory diagnostics with the desired speed and ease of use of point-of-care tests. With one sample, healthcare providers will be able to test for four of the most common flu season viruses and have a clear direction for treatment within the same visit. Fluxergy plans to distribute their rapid Analyzer Platform to healthcare centers where patients need rapid, accurate results, like urgent cares, community health centers, and small healthcare practices in remote areas. This will enable patients to select testing based on quality, not cost.
While the cost of multiplex respiratory PCR tests has been decreasing in recent years due to industry innovation, the overall associated costs for many healthcare centers are still too high to justify bringing rapid PCR into their facilities. Many providers are encouraged to give an influenza diagnosis based on observable symptoms alone; one 2018 study claims that the accuracy of this type of diagnosis in an emergency department is only 36%, demonstrating the inefficiency of diagnosing patients without using diagnostics.9 POC multiplex testing will not see strong adoption in outpatient healthcare settings until it becomes more affordable. Patients deserve to have the most accurate information possible as soon as possible, but this cannot happen until the cost issue is solved for providers.
Fluxergy's Role in Lowering Costs
Fluxergy is determined to be the first diagnostic company to effectively replace traditional lab testing with point-of-care (POC) testing through our multimodal Fluxergy Platform. Access to POC testing can positively impact the quality of care provided by clinicians, especially in decentralized and lower-resource healthcare settings that cannot perform diagnostic tests in-house. The company's multiplex respiratory PCR panel is targeting pricing that meets or is below insurance reimbursements for providers, eliminating the cost issue that many healthcare centers face when it comes to selecting diagnostic technologies. Through innovative manufacturing practices, Fluxergy plans to eliminate the cost-concerns of POC, helping doctors provide quality diagnostic results to their patients.
References
1. Ap, M. S. /. (2025, January 6). Sick season is in full force. Here’s what’s going around. TIME. https://time.com/7205057/cold-flu-season-2025-rsv/
2. After a slow start, flu season is picking up steam. (2024, December 27). NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/health/cold-and-flu/why-flu-cases-rising-later-season-cdc-data-rcna185546
3. Molinari, N.-A. M., Ortega-Sanchez, I. R., Messonnier, M. L., Thompson, W. W., Wortley, P. M., Weintraub, E., & Bridges, C. B. (2007, June 28). The annual impact of seasonal influenza in the US: Measuring disease burden and costs. Science Direct. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0264410X07003854
4. Weekly US Influenza Surveillance Report: Key Updates for Week 2, ending January 11, 2025. (2025, January 17). FluView. https://www.cdc.gov/fluview/surveillance/2025-week-02.html
5. Gamble, M. (n.d.). The 38-day delay: What the wait time average says about healthcare access. https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/strategy/the-38-day-delay-what-the-wait-time-average-says-about-healthcare-access.html?origin=QualityE&utm_source=QualityE&utm_medium=email&utm_content=newsletter&oly_enc_id=6687J7105845I5K
6. Incze, M., MD, MDEd, Redberg, R., MD, MSc, & Katz, M., MD. (2018, September). Overprescription in Urgent Care Clinics—The Fast and the Spurious. JAMA Network. Retrieved January 28, 2025, from https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2687523
7. Prices for COVID-19 testing - Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker. (2023, May 8). Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker. https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/brief/prices-for-covid-19-testing/#Prices%20for%20COVID-19%20tests%20in%20the%20outpatient%20setting,%20among%20people%20with%20large%20employer%20health%20coverage,%202021
8. McKeown, A. (2023, November 20). Actionable answers: Targeted multiplex PCR respiratory testing at the point of care. Medical Laboratory Observer
9. https://www.mlo-online.com/diagnostics/poct/article/53077352/actionable-answers-targeted-multiplex-pcr-respiratory-testing-at-the-point-of-care)
