Knowledge Hub

PathCare now offers SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19 testing

On 31 December 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) China country office reported a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been confirmed as the causative virus of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This virus has since spread to all continents and South Africa’s first case was identified on 5 March 2020.

Cord blood gas analysis is considered the gold standard for the determination of intrapartum foetal hypoxia. It provides an objective retrospective method for continuous quality improvement in the management of foetal acid-base abnormalities. It is also sensible to keep normal blood gas results on record for a baby with an uneventful delivery, but who may develop neurological impairment later.

Lymphocytosis refers to an increase of peripheral blood lymphocytes, which for adults is defined as an absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) > 4.0 x 109 /L. Lymphocytes generally constitute 8-33% of white blood cell count (WBC) in peripheral blood. The normal number and distribution of lymphocyte subsets vary with age.

Lynch syndrome (LS) is the most common cause of hereditary colorectal cancer (CRC), resulting from a germline pathogenic variant in one of the DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes.  The MMR genes associated with LS include MSH2, MLH1, MSH6 and PMS2.

Please take note of the platform change for 24 hour urine cortisol analysis.
This test will now be performed on the Abbott Architect immunoassay platform and will result in a change in reference interval to:  
24 hr urine cortisol reference interval: 11.8 – 485.6 nmol/24 hours

We write to you to keep you informed of developments within the medial scheme industry that affect the funding of some tests, specifically BioFire, used for diagnosis in acute respiratory diseases, suspected meningitis/encephalitis and diarrhoeal disease for the rapid identification of the pathogenic cause.

The D-Dimer test will be offered on the MINI VIDAS ®.
The report will state on which instrument the D-Dimer test result was obtained.

The D-Dimer test will be offered on the MINI VIDAS ®.
The report will state on which instrument the D-Dimer test result was obtained.

Transplacental or fetomaternal haemorrhage (FMH) may occur during pregnancy or at delivery and lead to immunisation to the D antigen if the mother is D negative and the baby D positive. This can result in haemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn (HDN) in subsequent pregnancies. It is important to assess the volume of FMH to determine the dose of anti-D immunoglobulin (anti-D Ig) required by a D negative woman to prevent sensitisation.