Thermo Fisher Scientific has announced the CE marking of its TaqPath COVID-19, Flu A/B, RSV Combo Kit for the in vitro diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2, influenza A/B and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) A/B infections.

Using the new kit, laboratories can now run a single test for SARS-CoV-2, influenza (flu) A/B, and RSV to detect and differentiate between diseases that share similar clinical symptoms, and get the information needed to help diagnose and monitor the spread of these respiratory illnesses in approximately three hours.

Mark Smedley, president of Genetic Sciences at Thermo Fisher, said: “We knew that this season’s surge in COVID-19 infections could coincide with cases of influenza and RSV, so we worked quickly to develop a PCR-based diagnostic kit for detecting and differentiating these illnesses simultaneously. Our new kit provides laboratories with the ability to diagnose and monitor the spread of COVID-19 and similar illnesses, which may require different patient management, including quarantining measures.”

The TaqPath COVID-19, Flu A/B, RSV Combo Kit enables laboratories expand their existing COVID-19 testing menu for respiratory samples while maintaining low operational costs and workflow simplicity. The device includes Applied Biosystems Pathogen Interpretive Software to automatically convert genetic analysis data into a readable report, helping reduce risk of user interpretation error.