False positives and false negatives refer to the test’s accuracy in diagnosing flu types. A false positive occurs when a test incorrectly indicates the presence of the flu, while a false negative happens when the test fails to detect the flu even though it’s present.
At AFC Urgent Care, our Rapid Flu Test is highly reliable. For flu type A, the test has a sensitivity of 96.3%, meaning there’s a 3.7% chance of a false negative, where the test may miss the flu if it’s present. Conversely, the specificity is 97.4%, indicating a 2.6% chance of a false positive, where the test might incorrectly suggest the presence of flu type A when it’s not there.
For flu type B, the test is even more precise, boasting 100% sensitivity, so there’s no risk of a false positive, and only a 2.9% chance of a false negative. This means that while the test is excellent at detecting flu type B, there is a small chance it might not detect the flu if it’s present.