NY Times: What Times Readers Would Change About Their Doctors’ Offices

[ucbalumnus]

@ClassicMom98

Here a different wish list item. An easy way to test for strep/flu. If it’s not strep/flu, im happy to wait it out at home. A home test would be fine, and if positive then go to the doctor to repeat, get drugs, etc. But having to go through my above mentioned process just to be tested - spending 1-4 hours waiting and waiting and telling everyone why you’re there, and then having to pay $150 for the process is horrid.

In some other countries, rapid home tests for flu, RSV, and COVID-19 are available:

Rapid tests for Covid, RSV and flu are available in Europe. What's stopping...

These combination tests are available in Europe for 6.5 €. A combination test is available in the US, but requires mailing the sample to a lab, and costs $169.

Strep testing is usually done with a swab of the throat (rather than nostril), so it would not combine well with flu, RSV, and COVID-19 testing. It would also be more difficult to self-administer even if it were available as such.