Response: Re: Impact of a Rapid Point of Care Test for Influenza on Guideline Consistent Care and Antibiotic Use

To the Editor: We thank Yasri and Wiwanitkit for their response regarding our publication on “Impact of a Rapid Point of Care Test for Influenza on Guideline Consistent Care and Antibiotic Use.”¹ A cost-effective point of care test is necessary to increase guideline consistency of care. Yasri and Wiwanitkit make an excellent point about the transferability of our findings to other primary care settings throughout the world where access to point of care testing may be limited. The emerging issue of drug resistance is an important consideration, particularly when diagnoses must be made solely on clinical judgment. Currently, drug resistance to neuraminidase inhibitors remains uncommon²; clinicians have the opportunity to continue this trend through guideline consistent treatment. When feasible, one option is to use a highly accurate point of care test, or to integrate a clinical decision rule with a point of care test³ to improve diagnostic accuracy.