Mar 19, 2019 | Chemical Pathology, Gastrointestinal
Procalcitonin (PCT) is a 116 amino acid peptide precursor of calcitonin. In the absence of infection, it is produced at very low levels in a few highly selected tissues. However, at the onset of infection bacterial factors and host inflammatory cytokines induce the...Mar 19, 2019 | HIV/TB, Infectious Diseases
Southern Africa has a very high background prevalence of HIV infection, making exposure risk both inside and outside the occupational setting high. The approach to occupational, sexual and other forms of exposure (bites, assaults, trauma, injecting drug use, etc) is...Mar 19, 2019 | Haematology, Latest News
Alternate or modified Westergren methods to measure erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) have been adopted by laboratories worldwide. These methods offer reduction in analysis time and improved operator safety. The iSED Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate analyzer is an...Mar 19, 2019 | Obstetric and Neonatal care, Virology
Acute Viral Hepatitis is the most common cause of jaundice in pregnancy. HBV infection during pregnancy is usually mild, not associated with increased mortality or teratogenicity, and should not prompt consideration of termination. Acute HBV infection may lead to... 
Jan 11, 2019 | Knowledge Hub, Microbiology
Pathcare Reference Laboratory has recently instituted a rapid blood culture ID technique where organisms from positive blood cultures can now be identified after about 4 hours from the time when the blood culture system flags the blood culture bottle as positive....Nov 14, 2018 | Gastrointestinal, Infectious Diseases, Knowledge Hub, Virology
Although few gastrointestinal infections may require specific therapy, the quick and efficient detection of a causative agent of diarrhoea may limit unnecessary use of antimicrobials, reduce hospitalisation duration and also provide valuable information regarding...