SOME Australians may have been falsely diagnosed with human swine flu while others with the disease may have been sent home with a negative result because the laboratory test used to identify the potentially deadly virus is only about 90 per cent accurate.

So far more than 1200 Australians have tested positive to swine flu.

NSW Health is among those using polymerase chain reaction testing, also known as the PCR testing, to identify the H1N1 strain of influenza. Last night NSW Health declined to make any further comment.

The latest information from the World Health Organisation, supported by the US Food and Drug Administration, suggests the newly developed rRT-PCR “rapid” testing method gives only a “presumptive positive” rather than a “definitive positive” result for H1N1 influenza.

According to reports from both organisations, the test can also provide a “false negative” result in cases where the patient actually has the virus. PCR testing is the global benchmark used to identify viruses and is endorsed by the WHO.

In April, the FDA issued an emergency use authorisation to allow a “rapid” form of the method to be rushed to laboratories across the US to combat a potential swine flu epidemic, even though the method had not been fully developed or obtained approval.

Source/Full Story: smh.com.au

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