In some cases, your doctor may decide that he wishes to order testing done if he suspects you may have the influenza virus. Tests for influenza can help diagnose whether you suffer from influenza Type A, B or C. Type A can produce severe symptoms while Type B or Type C sufferers typically display more mild flu signs. Flu testing can determine your course of treatment as well as confirm whether there has been an outbreak within your community.
Instructions
1. Make an appointment with your doctor. Discuss your symptoms and let him know when you started to feel sick. The physician will ideally want to send you for testing as quickly as possible in order to determine the best course of treatment.
2. Discuss your options for how the test sample will be collected. Doctors can use either a nasal swab or nasal aspirate to collect the fluid for influenza testing. Nasal swabs are most commonly used, but nasal aspirates are considered more accurate.
3. Get the test done. With the nasal swab, the swab will be inserted into one of your nostrils in order to retrieve a fluid sample. For the nasal aspirate test, saline solution is inserted into the nose and then removed through a nasal aspirator. The sample is collected in a cup and sent for testing. The doctor may permit you to simply allow the mucus and saline to drip into the cup without the use of a nasal aspirator.
4. Wait for the results of the influenza tests. Your doctor should have the results within a few days and will determine treatment or decide to order more testing.
Tags: course treatment, Discuss your, inserted into, nasal aspirate, nasal aspirator
