Taking a home antigen test for COVID-19 is a simple first step if you feel unwell or were exposed to the virus. 

But what about those COVID-19 tests you've stored away for the last year? Are they still good? Dr. Matthew Binnicker, director of the Clinical Virology Laboratory at Mayo Clinic, offers some guidance about COVID-19 testing.

Watch: The Mayo Clinic Minute

Journalists: Broadcast-quality video pkg (:58) is in the downloads at the end of the post. Please courtesy: "Mayo Clinic News Network." Read the script. 

The flu, RSV and COVID-19 are caused by different viruses with similar early symptoms.

"Such as sore throat, some body aches, a cough, runny nose. And taking that COVID-19 antigen test is a good first step," says Dr. Binnicker.

If you have a stack of COVID-19 at-home tests, Dr. Binnicker says check the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) website.

"I know there's been concern about some antigen tests expiring, and what you can do is you can go on to a website that's publicly available," he says.

Many COVID-19 tests have extended expiration dates, so they may still be usable.

He says prevention remains one of the most important tools.

"It's really important to get the updated COVID-19 vaccine that's based off of more recent strain to help reduce the chance that you can be infected and, most importantly, come down with a severe case," says Dr. Binnicker.

If your COVID-19 test comes back positive, Dr. Binnicker has this advice. 

"It's very likely that you've got COVID-19, and you should stay at home, stay away from others, and if you have to get out, wear a mask. That is a crucial step to help prevent transmission," he says. 

Not feeling well but your test came back negative? 

Dr. Binnicker says it's important to play it safe. "With the holiday season and interacting with family and friends, if there's anyone in the mix who's got a respiratory illness, cough, sore throat, runny nose, first, it's best that they just stay away from the gathering altogether," he says.

COVID-19 tests

Find out if your COVID-19 antigen test has an extended expiration date at this FDA website.

In the U.S., each household is eligible to order four free at-home tests. You can find the link for more information here.

Related posts:

• Mayo Clinic Minute: Reduce risk of respiratory infections
• Mayo Clinic Minute: 3 misconceptions about COVID-19 and flu vaccines

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Dr. Robert Jacobson, medical director of Mayo Clinic's Primary Care Immunization Program, says there are tools to help reduce the risk of becoming severely ill from these respiratory infections.

Watch: The Mayo Clinic Minute

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"We're all at risk for getting the flu, and we can actually get (it) more than once a year. Every year, about 10% to 20% of us get the flu," says Dr. Jacobson.

Along with the flu, COVID-19 and RSV are among the most common respiratory illnesses. These viruses share similar symptoms, risks and prevention strategies.

Dr. Jacobson's No. 1 tip: Get vaccinated.

"This is specific protection your body can make to protect you and your loved ones," he says.

Along with vaccination, Dr. Jacobson stresses the importance of hand-washing.

"Especially before you eat, when you come home from work, when you come home from bringing your child from day care — both of you should go to the sink — wash your hands with soap and water after using a bathroom, before serving other people food, after being with a group of people, shaking hands with people, wash your hands," he says.

Wash your hands well and often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water aren't available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol. Make sure friends and family whom you're around regularly, especially kids, know the importance of hand-washing.

Tactics to avoid respiratory infections:

• Avoid touching your face. Keeping your hands away from your eyes, nose and mouth helps keep germs away from those places.
• Cover your coughs and sneezes. Cough or sneeze into a tissue or your elbow. Then wash your hands.
• Clean surfaces. Regularly clean often-touched surfaces to prevent the spread of infection from touching a surface with the virus on it and then your face.
• Avoid crowds. The flu spreads easily wherever people gather — in child care centers, schools, office buildings, auditoriums and on public transportation. By avoiding crowds during peak flu season, you lower your chances of infection.

And if you get sick, stay home to avoid spreading infection to others.

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Misconceptions about the influenza and COVID-19 vaccines may make some people hesitant to roll up their sleeves. What better way to clear up the confusion than hearing straight from a Mayo Clinic expert?

In this Mayo Clinic Minute, Dr. Robert Jacobson, medical director for Mayo Clinic's Primary Care Immunization Program, clears up some misconceptions about COVID-19 and the flu.

Watch: The Mayo Clinic Minute

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Misconception #1: The flu and COVID-19 vaccines can make you sick.

"You aren't going to get the flu from the flu vaccine. You're not going to get COVID from the COVID vaccine. It may feel momentarily like you're coming down with something, but it's going to resolve without any treatment," says Dr. Jacobson.

Misconception #2: Supply issues.

Some may worry about supply issues and don't want to take vaccines away from other who may really need them. Dr. Jacobson says, while that may have been the case when the COVID-19 vaccine was first rolled out, it's not anymore.

"We have three manufacturers in this country making COVID-19 vaccines (which) are licensed or approved for use by the FDA, and monitored and recommended by the ACIP (Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices). Pharmacies, healthcare organizations and public health have the vaccines available for you. That's not an excuse," says Dr. Jacobson.

Misconception #3: Natural immunity from a recent infection.

Finally, some may believe they don't need vaccination because they had a recent infection. However, Dr. Jacobson explains why you can't rely on natural immunity alone.

"Not everybody, who even has a good immune system, gets three months protection out of it. We're not in a situation where our resources are strained to get you the COVID vaccine. So you no longer have to do us the favor and wait the three months," says Dr. Jacobson.

The truth:

Getting vaccinated for the flu and COVID-19 is the best way to keep yourself and the people around you safe from infection.

Related posts:

• Mayo Clinic expert answers questions about the flu, COVID-19
• Mayo Clinic Minute: How to prepare for the 2024-25 influenza season
• Mayo Clinic Minute: Protect your family from seasonal respiratory infections

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Dr. Tina Ardon, a family medicine physician at Mayo Clinic, says these respiratory infections also share common preventive measures. She offers these tips to help keep you and your family safe.

Watch: The Mayo Clinic Minute

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"Illnesses like influenza or COVID-19 can definitely put stress on a family. As a mother of three, I recommend making sure that we can stay protected against illnesses that we have vaccines for," says Dr. Ardon.

There is no vaccine for the common cold. However, there are safe and effective vaccines for the flu and COVID-19.

Protecting yourself helps protect others

"Especially if you have family members who are higher risk, maybe a new baby in the family, maybe an elderly family member who has other chronic conditions — vaccines are very important for keeping the rest of us safe as well," she explains.

Along with vaccination, there are ways to optimize your health, including good hand hygiene. Wash your hands often for at least 20 seconds with soap and water, get plenty of rest and follow a healthy diet.

"Other ways we can kind of protect ourselves too, are being careful about coughing and sneezing — using the inside of an elbow, using a handkerchief, being careful about coughing and sneezing around those that are around us," says Dr. Ardon.

Along with vaccination for influenza and COVID-19, there are vaccine options to protect against RSV for older adults and those who are pregnant. 

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While COVID-19 continues to evolve, there is some good news when it comes to detecting the virus.

"The tests we've used over the last three or four years don't seem to be significantly impacted by the new variants," says Dr. Matthew Binnicker, director of the Clinical Virology Laboratory at Mayo Clinic.

He says that the molecular, or PCR, tests processed in laboratories look at multiple parts of the genetic makeup of the virus, so even if there are mutations in one area, a test can still pick up the virus. "And the home antigen tests look for a different protein altogether from where we're seeing these mutations in the recent variants," says Dr. Binnicker.

Watch: Dr. Matthew Binnicker discusses the effectiveness of COVID-19 tests

Journalists: Broadcast-quality sound bites are available in the downloads at the bottom of the posts. Name super/CG: Matthew Binnicker, Ph.D./Laboratory Medicine and Pathology/Mayo Clinic

So what should you do if you're feeling ill? "I'm recommending that if an individual has symptoms of cough, sore throat or body aches, that they take a COVID at-home antigen test as a first step. If that's positive, you probably have COVID-19 and should stay home for a period of time until your symptoms resolve," says Dr. Binnicker.

He adds that if the test is negative, consider contacting your care team, "and scheduling a lab-based test that will probably look for flu, RSV and COVID-19. That way, you can get a wider picture of what could be causing your disease."

It’s important to help prevent the spread of respiratory viruses. Along with testing, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Dr. Binnicker recommend these strategies:

• Stay up to date on vaccination.
• Stay home if you are not feeling well.
• If you have any respiratory symptoms, wear a mask if you must go out in public.
• Practice good hand hygiene.

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As a summer surge of COVID-19 outbreaks is underway, new vaccines for the virus have been released.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved new COVID-19 vaccines for the 2024-2025 season for people ages 6 months and older. These updated vaccines are designed to better protect against recently circulating variants, helping to prevent serious illness and hospitalization.

"It appears that this virus is going to continue to change as immunity in the population wanes, either after vaccination or prior infection. New strains of this virus will cause outbreaks at different times of the year," says Dr. Matthew Binnicker, director of the Clinical Virology Laboratory at Mayo Clinic. 

Watch: Dr. Matthew Binnicker discusses the COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for 2024-2025

Journalists: Broadcast-quality sound bites are available in the downloads at the bottom of the posts. Name super/CG: Matthew Binnicker, Ph.D./Laboratory Medicine and Pathology/Mayo Clinic

New COVID-19 variants can evade immunity from earlier vaccination or prior infection, meaning vaccinated or previously infected people may still catch the virus. However, their immunity helps protect them from severe illness.

"The recent vaccines have been designed against a variant that we saw early in 2024. The immune response that's generated by these new vaccines is much more specific to the strains that are currently in circulation," says Dr. Binnicker. "Studies have shown that the immune response is much more pronounced and specific against these variants and helps keep some from getting COVID-19 and, most importantly, keep them from developing severe disease."

Who should get the updated COVID-19 vaccines?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone 6 months and older get the updated 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine for better protection this fall and winter. Whether you’ve previously had a COVID-19 vaccine or not, it’s important to stay protected, says Dr. Binnicker.

It's recommended that everyone should get the updated COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it is available. Those who recently had an infection should wait three months, or those who had a dose of the older COVID-19 vaccine should wait two months. It is especially important for those who are at higher risk of severe infection.

"Those who are immune compromised, those who are over the age of 65, those with certain preexisting health conditions and those who are pregnant fall into a higher risk category should get the updated COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible," explains Dr. Binnicker. 

Vaccine protection can wane over time, so staying updated with your COVID-19 vaccination is key to preventing severe illness, hospitalization and possibly death.

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 A new variant of COVID-19, known as FLiRT, is now the most dominant strain in the U.S. This variant, which evolved from the omicron strain, is characterized by changes in its spike protein — the part of the virus that binds to host cells. Dr. Matthew Binnicker, director of the Clinical Virology Laboratory at Mayo Clinic, says that these changes could increase the virus' ability to infect cells and evade the immune system, even in people who have previously been infected or vaccinated.

"This variant can evade the immune response more effectively than prior versions of the virus. If you've been infected, or you've been vaccinated, and you've got some antibodies in your system, those antibodies may not recognize the protein on the surface of the virus as well," says Dr. Binnicker.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this new variant is now responsible for more than 28% of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. Dr. Binnicker says there is a potential for an increase in cases during the summer months, with a more significant surge expected in the fall and winter.

"I anticipate we'll see an uptick in cases with this more transmissible virus that can evade the immune system. But what I'm really watching are the fall and winter months because that's typically when we see the largest surge in respiratory viral infections," he says.

Watch: Dr. Matthew Binnicker discusses COVID-19 FLiRT strains

Journalists: Broadcast-quality sound bites are available in the downloads at the bottom of the posts. Name super/CG: Matthew Binnicker, Ph.D./Laboratory Medicine and Pathology/Mayo Clinic

For those who are vaccinated, antibodies are present to combat the virus. However, the effectiveness of these antibodies can vary with different virus variants.

"With this latest round of variants, this FLiRT variant, the antibodies that you have from past vaccination may not bind and neutralize the virus as well. If you've been infected or vaccinated in the past three to four months, you’re probably going to have antibodies that are going to recognize these newer viruses effectively. And it will help you keep from getting really sick and may even help prevent you from coming down with any symptoms," says Dr. Binnicker.

"If you were infected or vaccinated more than six months ago, you may not have as good of protection, and you may come down with a subsequent infection with the typical symptoms of COVID," he adds.

Symptoms of FLiRT

The symptoms of this variant are consistent with other variants and include:

•  Sore throat
• Body aches
• Cough
• Runny nose
• Shortness of breath (especially in unvaccinated people or those infected long ago)

Receiving an updated vaccine will help protect you from the newer strain. 

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The new year is bringing a significant rise in respiratory virus activity across the U.S. Many are experiencing coughs, fever and congestion — some of the telltale signs of COVID-19 and influenza. Dr. Nipunie Rajapakse, a Mayo Clinic pediatric infectious diseases expert, explains why this surge is happening, what still may be to come, and how to protect you and your family.

"We have seen increasing rates of COVID-19 and influenza. Influenza season has not yet peaked, we expect that to happen sometime in the coming weeks. But we are seeing kind of increase in cases and hospitalizations related to both of these viruses," says Dr. Rajapakse.

Watch: Dr. Nipunie Rajapakse discusses increasing levels of respiratory infections

Journalists: Broadcast-quality sound bites with Dr. Rajapakse are available in the downloads at the end of the post. Please courtesy: "Mayo Clinic News Network." Name super/CG: Nipunie Rajapakse, M.D./Pediatric Infectious Diseases/Mayo Clinic.

Influenza

As the U.S. approaches the peak of the flu season, Dr. Rajapakse says it's not too late to get vaccinated, and she encourages everyone 6 months and older to get this season's flu shot, which she says could help keep you out of the hospital with the flu this season.

A recent report from The Center for Disease Control and Prevention shows seal flu activity continues to be elevated in most parts of the country. Dr. Rajapakse says the trend is concerning.

"We have already this year seen about 20 children who have unfortunately died from influenza already, and the reports coming out are that many of these children and children who are being hospitalized with influenza are those who have not been vaccinated yet," says Dr. Rajapakse.

The influenza strains that are circulating so far this season appear to be well matched to those included in this year's formulation of the vaccine.

COVID-19

"The current predominant variant of COVID-19 circulating in the United States is called JN.1. This variant has some mutations that allow it to escape immunity a bit better — immunity from either vaccination or other prior infection," says Dr. Rajapakse.

She says, thus far, JN.1 doesn't seem to be causing more severe illness, but people who haven't had a recent infection or didn't get the updated COVID-19 vaccine are tending to get sick with this new variant.

"The updated COVID-19 vaccine is providing some protection against this JN.1 variant. It is a descendant of the omicron variant. And so, therefore, there is some cross-protection that would be conferred from that vaccine."

Low vaccination rates could make for more severe flu season

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns about low vaccination rates amid rising cases of illness. Seven million fewer flu vaccines were administered to adults in 2023 compared with 2022. Only 16% of adults have gotten the updated COVID-19 vaccine. The new RSV vaccine for adults 60 and over only has an uptake rate of 15%–16%, according to CDC data.

"Because the last few flu seasons especially have been relatively mild, as people were adhering to precautions around COVID-19, really immunity in the population as a whole is dependent on people getting vaccinated because we just don't have that kind of natural immunity that comes from having a recent influenza infection," says Dr. Rajapakse. "The fact that influenza vaccination rates are extremely low this year really kind of sets us up for a situation where we can see a lot of people getting sick with flu infection."

Related posts:

• Mayo Clinic Minute: Why do more people get sick with viruses in the winter?
• Mayo Clinic Minute: Update adult vaccinations for a new year

The post Mayo Clinic expert discusses increasing levels of respiratory infections appeared first on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Watch: The Mayo Clinic Minute

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"It's a really interesting phenomenon that we see with respiratory viruses like COVID-19 and influenza, where we see almost annually this surge of infections during the cooler months in the Northern Hemisphere. It usually happens anywhere between November and the end of February," says Dr. Binnicker. "Most people think that it's just due to more people being indoors, which I think plays some role in it."

Dr. Binnicker says another factor is humidity.

"In the warmer months, there's more humidity," he says. "And when we speak, when we cough, when we sneeze, the larger amounts of moisture in the air causes whatever droplets we release from a cough, sneeze or talking to be bigger. Those droplets are larger in size, and they fall to the ground, they fall to the floor faster."

But, in the winter, when the air is drier, those droplets that may contain a virus can hang in the air for longer periods of time and can spread further.

It also turns out that a person's immunity is not functioning as well in the winter months. That's because cilia, which are small, hairlike projections in the upper respiratory tract that usually move foreign objects out of your nose, don't function as well during the cooler temperatures and lower humidity.

"So a virus is able to persist in our upper respiratory tract for longer periods of time," says Dr. Binnicker.

Besides taking precautions like getting vaccinated and practicing good hand hygiene, Dr. Binnicker says humidifiers may help prevent the transmission of these viruses.

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In this Mayo Clinic Minute, Dr. Matthew Binnicker, director of the Clinical Microbiology Molecular Lab and co-director of the Clinical Virology Lab at Mayo Clinic, explains the multipronged approach he recommends for preventing and reducing viral infections during the holiday season.

Watch: The Mayo Clinic Minute

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"Getting vaccinated is the first and foremost best step that we can take to help prevent ourselves from being infected with influenza, COVID-19 and, in certain groups, RSV," says Dr. Matthew Binnicker.

If you do feel sick, it's better to have a case of FOMO, or fear of missing out, than risk exposing others to your illness.

"It's really hard to do during the holidays because you want to get together with family and friends. But if you feel sick, whether that be a gastrointestinal illness or a respiratory illness, what you need to do is stay home," says Dr. Matthew Binnicker.

Another strategy to consider is testing for COVID-19, the flu and RSV before traveling or attending gatherings.

"If you're going to be getting together with a group where there might be someone who is at higher risk for severe disease, so if there's really young children who are going to be present, or if there's an elderly individual or anyone who is immunocompromised, taking a test the day of or right before the event can help catch whether someone unknowingly has a high amount of the virus," says Dr. Binnicker.

Finally, don't forget to wash your hands before and after getting together with people, especially when food is involved.

Additional resources:

• Mayo Clinic Minute: You’re washing your hands all wrong
• Fight off the flu with immune-boosting nutrients

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