Loyola utilizes a molecular-based test that detects 98 percent of people who are positive for influenza, Schreckenberger said. The test has a 24-hour turnaround time. However, about 90 percent of all hospital labs in Chicago and across the United States use rapid tests to confirm a diagnosis. Some hospitals use the rapid tests but will double check all negatives with a more accurate test.

"It's not the physicians. They believe the results just like they believe any lab results. It's the laboratories. They should be telling physicians who order these rapid tests, 'I'm sorry. We don't do them. They don't work. We can offer you these other alternatives,'" Schreckenberger said.

The tests are so inaccurate that physicians are being told by public health officials that they should consider anyone exhibiting flu-like symptoms as infected with H1N1 and then care for them accordingly, Schreckenberger said. Also, public health agencies have begun tracking people with flu-like symptoms instead of cases confirmed by the rapid tests because they know the tests are unreliable.

"If these kits do not work, then why do 90% of the hospital laboratories still perform them on their patients? False negative test results can only lead to a bad outcome and puts a huge financial burden on the health care payers." Schreckenberger said.

Source: Loyola University Medical Center