New Respiratory Panel

Brookside Clinical Laboratory, Inc. is doing what we think is best practices, based on CDC recommendations and Pennsylvania Department of Health, to prepare for a COVID-19 and Influenza season for our clients and their communities.

We know that more people are prone to colds and flu in the winter months because more time is spent indoors allowing for easier transmission of respiratory infections. In addition, we know that some of the symptoms of Influenza and COVID-19 are similar, making it difficult to discern the difference between these two infections based on symptoms alone. These symptoms include fever, chills, cough, difficult breathing, body aches, sore throat, etc.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health in their PAHAN 537-11-30-ADV Alert, SARS-Cov-2 and Influenza virus co-infection can occur, therefore testing for pathogens that infect the same human tissues in the respiratory tract, can provide more accurate and differentiated results from patients in the acute phase of infection.

As a result, Brookside has developed a Respiratory Assay that tests for Influenza A, Influenza B, RSV 1, RSV 2, Strep and COVID-19 using only one swab. The ability to test for multiple respiratory pathogens from a single sample means less discomfort for the patient compared to collecting a separate sample for each test.

The Respiratory Panel Brookside is offering to our clients will be done via PCR, the most sensitive and most recommended of all SARS-Cov-2 testing and remains the gold standard for detecting an active COVID-19 infection.