As we move into the 2025–26 Northern Hemisphere winter, the UK is already experiencing one of the earliest influenza seasons in over two decades. National surveillance data indicate that influenza A(H3N2) subclade K has rapidly become dominant across England since late summer 2025, driving a sharp rise in influenza-like illness and related hospital attendances. Alongside influenza, a wide range of respiratory pathogens including RSV, rhinovirus, parainfluenza, adenovirus, metapneumovirus, bocavirus, and SARS-CoV-2, continue to circulate, creating a challenging environment for timely and accurate diagnosis.
In this landscape, rapid, high-confidence, multiplex respiratory testing is essential to guiding clinical management, infection control, and real-time surveillance. Pro-Lab Diagnostics UK, in partnership with CerTest Biotec, offers a comprehensive range of VIASURE® Real-Time PCR panels and CerTest Rapid Lateral Flow solutions designed to deliver dependable diagnostic performance throughout the winter season.
Recent UK data highlight that while enhanced vaccines maintain strong protection in children and moderate protection in adults, influenza A(H3N2) drift variants continue to circulate, underlining the importance of detailed subtype identification. For laboratories, this reinforces the need for flexible testing approaches that can identify the dominant strains, detect emerging variants, and distinguish between respiratory viruses with overlapping symptomatology.
The VIASURE® product family directly supports this requirement with flexible configurations suitable for both targeted and syndromic respiratory workflows. These include:
To demonstrate the practical value of multiplex testing in busy winter diagnostics, the VIASURE® RP03 Respiratory Panel is an excellent representation of broad pathogen coverage in a single, streamlined format. RP03 incorporates 12 simultaneous assays, detecting:
This configuration enables laboratories to identify co-infections, differentiate viral and bacterial drivers, and obtain clinically actionable information from a single extraction. Panels such as RP03 demonstrate how VIASURE® supports both routine diagnostics and enhanced respiratory surveillance during complex winter seasons.
The VIASURE® platform has been engineered for efficiency, ease of use, and robust clinical performance. All kits utilise ready-to-use, lyophilised reagents, eliminating the need for cold-chain management and allowing shipping and storage at room temperature. With a 24-month shelf life, ISO 13485 validation, and CE-IVD marking, VIASURE® assays provide confidence and consistency across diverse working environments.
A defining capability of the system is its unique thermal protocol, enabling multiple parameters to be amplified simultaneously within a single PCR reaction. This allows multiple tests to be run from one sample, simplifying laboratory workflows and reducing turnaround times. The “one sample, one preparation” approach ensures laboratories can detect multiple analytes with minimal hands-on time, improving both accuracy and throughput.
To support different laboratory needs, assays are available in 1, 2, 3, or 4-strip multianalyte configurations, enabling targeted or syndromic testing using the same core platform. Reduced handling, simplified preparation, and rapid time-to-result all contribute to lower risk of sample or result mishandling, while enhancing operational efficiency during periods of peak demand.
In a season marked by early influenza circulation, antigenic drift, and diverse co-circulating pathogens, a coordinated approach delivers the most effective diagnostic outcomes:
Together, Pro-Lab Diagnostics UK and CerTest Biotec deliver the scalability, accuracy, and flexibility required to navigate a demanding respiratory season. Our CerTest lateral flow kits provide rapid test options that labs can integrate into their screening workflows. Pair these with confirmatory or subtyping Viasure PCR assays for further characterisation.
Browse our products at Pro-Lab Diagnostics to learn more about how we can support your lab’s success or contact us today to join our extensive network of labs across the globe.
