August 16, 2022

The latest bulletin from Alverno Laboratories brings two significant updates for healthcare providers. First, as of August 2022, Alverno Central Lab will discontinue performing antibody identification and antibody titer testing. Any positive antibody screens will be accompanied by a comment advising follow-up testing at the local hospital, especially for prenatal cases. Secondly, effective August 23, 2022, testing for suspected cases of monkeypox can now be directly ordered. Quest Diagnostics will conduct the testing via a Qualitative Real-Time PCR assay capable of detecting both non-variola Orthopoxviruses and the monkeypox virus. Detailed test ordering information, including specimen requirements and stability, is provided for healthcare providers' reference.