AS THE flu season arrives, doctors in the US fear emergency rooms will be
besieged by people with flu-like symptoms who think they’ve got anthrax.
To cope with the rush, some doctors are turning to a test made by
Colorado-based Thermo Biostar that can tell within 15 minutes if a person
has flu. Demand for the test is clearly increasing this year, according to Noel
Doheny, head of the company. But only about half the illnesses that feel like
the flu are caused by the flu virus. So even if the test result is negative,
people should not assume they…
