105288Development of an instrument-free molecular diagnostic test for Influenza and RSVClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UKInfections that affect patients breathing, such as influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), cause over 6 million hospital admissions and c.700,000 deaths globally each year. They particularly impact over 65s, under 5s and patients with chronic disease, e.g. COPD. There is an important need to improve the diagnosis and treatment of respiratory illnesses, including permitting antiviral drugs to be used when they are most effective and cutting the use of antibiotics when they are not required. Laboratory diagnostic tests for influenza and RSV which detect the genetic material of the viruses are very accurate but need complex equipment, which necessitates a central testing location and the associated operating systems which add costs and cause delays. Rapid point-of-care tests, similar to a pregnancy test, are available for influenza and RSV and have been used in the USA since the early 1990s. They are cheap and convenient but miss many cases of infection and are unreliable. We have developed a single-use molecular test device that brings the gold standard performance of laboratory machine tests into a rapid, disposable, point-of-care test format. The product is highly flexible and may be readily adopted outside of central laboratories. The benefits of our test include improved treatment of patients, fewer hospitalisations, better use of antibiotics, fewer deaths and significantly lower overall healthcare costs. Future use by hospitals, GPs and nursing homes would also enable more effective infection prevention and control.