Abstract: Acute respiratory infections pose a significant burden to global health systems, with viral pathogens as the major contributors. Rapid and accurate pathogen diagnosis is of great significance for timely antiviral treatment, reduction of antibiotic abuse, disease prevention and control after respiratory virus infection. Rapid antigen detection and rapid nucleic acid detection are commonly used clinical methods for rapid respiratory virus detection. Although rapid detection can meet specific clinical needs, there are still some challenges in the clinical application. This review focuses on the development of respiratory virus rapid detection, its value of clinical applications and challenges, aiming to provide clinical reference.