Malaria PCR
Print
| WSLH Department: | CDD - Communicable Disease Division |
| WSLH Test Code: | MP00832 |
| Day(s) Performed: | Weekly |
| Turn-around Time: | 1-7 days |
| Recommended Uses: | Species level identification for surveillance of malaria infections |
| Pre-approval: | No |
| Contraindications: | Not recommended for primary diagnosis of Plasmodium due to the delays from transport. Not recommended for patients who have no history of travel to endemic areas, blood transfusion or arthropod or insect bite/exposure. |
| Additional Tests Performed: |
N/A |
| Preparation for Collection: | Specimens should be collected while patient is symptomatic if the patient presents with periodicity of symptoms. |
| Specimen Requirements: | Tube of EDTA Blood |
| Collection Instructions: | EDTA blood collected per standard operating procedures. Whenever possible, blood should be collected prior to initiating anti-malarial therapy. |
| Collection Kit/Container: |
|
| Requisition Form: |
|
| Required Information: | Please include Patient Travel History Form. Patient history is critical for the diagnosis and identification of bloodborne parasites. Patient history submitted should include any foreign travel (destination, dates), prophylaxis or treatment received, symptoms, arthropod or insect exposure and bites, or blood transfusions, other. EDTA preserved blood submitted without smears will only be accepted with the following: 1. Plasmodium identification 2. Test method 3. Percent Parasitemia 4. Travel history Laboratory regulations require the following minimum information to be provided on the requisition form for a specimen to be accepted for testing: Patient name or unique identifier, date and time of collection, patient date of birth and sex, specimen type/site of collection, test request(s), clinician name and UPIN, and address for reporting results. Please be certain that name/identifier on the form matches that on the specimen label which is required to have a minimum of two identifiers. |
| Rejection Criteria: | Serum specimens and whole blood without anticoagulant cannot be tested. Specimens collected <4 hours apart. |
| Specimen Handling: | Transport EDTA blood at 2-8°C with frozen cold pack. |
| Packaging Requirements: | |
| Courier Information: | Contact Purple Mountain Dispatch at 800-990-9668 for specimen pick-up |
| Specimen Receiving Hours: | Monday-Friday 6:00 AM - 4:30 PM, Saturday 6:30 AM - 12:30 PM |
| Results Include: | Identification of Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium ovale, and Plasmodium malariae or No parasites found |
| Limitations: | Negative results do not exclude bloodborne parasite infection in a patient. Follow-up samples should be collected for a minimum of three successive days and at least six to eight hours apart. |
| Additional Tests Recommended: | |
| Additional Comments: |
| Methodology: | RT-PCR of Plasmodium 18S DNA |
| Includes: | RT-PCR confirmation and species level identification of the 4 main Plasmodium species. |
| Regulatory Compliance: |
| CPT Code: | 87798 |
| Price: | $318.00 |
| Fee Exempt Eligible: | Yes, for surveillance purposes |
| Billing and Revenue Office: | 1-800-862-1065 arbill@slh.wisc.edu |