CYTOLOGY SPECIMEN HANDLING
OF HIGHLY INFECTIOUS CASES.
DRAFT COPY ONLY.
(Procedure 136).
http://www.netautopsy.org/axsop/axsop136.htm


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United States Government Work, uncopyrighted, public-domain, DRAFT COPY ONLY. This document does not necessarily represent the views or policies of any United States Government agency. This document is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to the warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. In no event shall the authors be liable for any claim, damages or other liability, whether in an action of contract, tort or otherwise, arising from, out of, or in connection with the document or the use or other dealings made with the document.



PRINCIPLE OF THE TEST.

      To have a written policy for handling highly infectious cases.



SPECIMEN REQUIRED.

      Cytology specimens.



REAGENTS, INSTRUMENTATION.

      Gown. Gloves. Biohazard hood. Splash shield. Biohazard bags (red). Clorox (10%). 50 ml/15 ml centrifuge collection tubes. Plain glass microscopic slides. Marking pen. Pipettes. Sharps waste container.



STEP-BY-STEP DESCRIPTION.

      1. Every specimen received in the Cytology Laboratory is considered highly infections. Thus universal precautions are taken. Specimens are received in cytology in a biohazard transport bag. Prior to handling specimens, the processor gowns up and puts on gloves. A requisition form accompanies the specimen. The requisition form is taken from the transport bag, and is assessed for completeness. If complete, the specimen is accessioned into the VISTA computer system.

      2. The specimen is taken from the biohazard transport bag, and is labeled with an accession number. The specimen is opened under a biohazard hood, and allocated into the appropriate capped, numbered centrifuge tubes. The specimen is centrifuged and the supernatant of the specimen is poured back into the original container. The specimen is refrigerated until it is completely signed out by the pathologist. Large amounts of unused body fluids are disposed of by an outside research laboratory, once per week.

      3. Sputum container or any other empty containers, disposable centrifuge tubes, disposable Thin-Prep filters, disposable gloves, and any other disposable items used in processing specimens are placed into biohazard bags. The cytopreparatory technician then takes a solution of 10% Clorox, and wipes down the table top and the surrounding areas. The bags are removed from the laboratory, and disposed of the Housekeeping Staff.

      4. The cytopreparatory technician discards his/her gloves and gown, and washes his/her hands.