Accepted Article I-Ching Sam ORCID iD: 0000-0002-1296-7898 Yoke-Fun Chan ORCID iD: 0000-0001-7089-0510 Evaluation of rapid influenza diagnostic tests for influenza A and B in the tropics Yoong Min Chong 1 , Xiu Hui Tan 1 , Poh Sim Hooi 2 , Lu Mei Lee 2 , I-Ching Sam 1,2 , Yoke Fun Chan 1* 1 Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2 Diagnostic Virology Laboratory, University Malaya Medical Centre, Lembah Pantai, 59100, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia * Corresponding author: Chan Yoke Fun Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Tel: +603-7967 6677 Fax: +603-7967 5752 E-mail: chanyf@ummc.edu.my; chanyf@um.edu.my Abstract Rapid diagnosis of influenza is important for early treatment and institution of control measures. In developing tropical countries such as Malaysia, influenza occurs all year round, but molecular assays and conventional techniques (such as immunofluorescence and culture) for diagnosis are not widely available. Rapid This article has been accepted for publication and undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as doi: 10.1002/jmv.25495. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.