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Test Code MALARIA Malaria Smear

Specimen and Container/Tube

Specimen Type: Whole blood

Preferred Specimen: lavender top

Other Acceptable specimens: not applicable 

Specimen Stability

Storage Temperature

Stability

Room temperature

(20 - 25°C)

 8 hours 

Refrigerated

(2 - 10°C)

 24 hours 

Frozen

(-20°C)

not acceptable

Collection Instructions

Collect specimen per standard laboratory collection procedures. 

Specimen Handling and Transport Instructions

 

UCMC Onsite Instructions: Collect specimen per standard collection procedure and send to laboratory immediately.

 

UCMC Offsite and UC MedLab Outreach Instructions: Collect specimen per standard collection procedure and send to laboratory immediately. Specimens must be received within 8 hours. If transport is delayed, refrigerate specimens prior to transport. 

Rejection Criteria

  • Common specimen rejected situations include: incorrect specimen type, insufficient volume, missing or incomplete specimen identifiers, incorrect specimen transport, or specimens outside stability limits. 
  • Frozen or heated specimens will be rejected
  • Clotted or quantity not sufficient specimens are not suitable for testing and will be rejected 

 

Reference Values

Analyte

Age

Sex

Reference Range

Malaria or other organisms

All

Male and female

Not present

Clinical Indications

  • Screen for detection of blood parasites

Methodology

Wright Giemsa stain and light microscopy

CPT Codes

87207

LOINC Codes

MALA 32700-7, MSPEC 10710-2, MALP 48427-9

 

Critical Values

Analyte

Unit

Low

High

Age

Intracellular organisms and intracellular or extracellular parasites in: blood, CSF, pericardial fluid, peritoneal fluid (paracentesis), pleural fluid, synovial fluid; intracellular and extracellular yeast and pneumocystis in BAL.

Volume

Preferred Volume: 4.0 mL

Minimum Volume: 1.0 mL

Test Components

Examination of thick and thin smears, pathologist evaluation. If positive, speciation and percent parasitemia included. 

Additional Information

Not applicable

Turnaround Time

Turnaround times are relative to the time the specimen is received in the test laboratory. 

 

STAT Turnaround Time: 60 minutes

 

Routine Turnaround Time: 24 hours

 

Testing Schedule:  24/7

Synonyms/Search Keywords

Blood parasite detection

Last Reviewed Date

9/5/2024