Methods and kits for predicting an infectious disease state

A method of rapidly determining the disease state of a subject, wherein said disease is caused by an infectious organism, comprising the steps of:

• a) providing a nasopharyngeally derived sample from said subject;
• b) contacting a binding agent directly to said sample, wherein said binding agent is capable of specifically binding to an epitope derived from said infectious organism;
• c) allowing said binding agent to specifically bind to and form a complex with said epitope derived from said infectious organism present in said sample;
• and
• d) detecting said complex, wherein said detection is positive if concentration of said infectious organism in said sample is greater than or equal to a reference concentration, and said detection is negative if concentration of said infectious organism in said sample is less than said reference concentration.