Objective To study the direct immunofluorescence method for rapidly detecting influenza A virus antigen and its clinical application .Methods The inpatients with clinically diagnosed acute respiratory tract infection were selected .Two hundred samples were collected and divided into two groups :the winter and spring epidemic seasons children group and the summer and au‐tumn non‐epidemic seasons children group ,100 cases in each group .The US D3 Ultra influenza A virus antigen detection reagent was used .The fluorescence labeled monoclonal antibody was adopted to detect influenza A virus antigen in the patients with cold . Results During the winter and spring seasons of influenza prevalence ,8 cases of 100 detected cases were positive with the positive rate of 8% ;during the summer and autumn seasons of non‐influenza prevalence ,2 cases of 100 cases were positive with positive rate of 2% ,the difference in the positive rate between the two groups had statistical significance(P<0 .05) .Conclusion Applying the direct immunofluorescence method for rapidly detecting influenza A virus antigen is an economical ,efficient ,rapid and specific detec‐tion method ,and can guide clinical rapid diagnosis and rational medication .