Dear Healthcare Provider,
The information contained here may be very important to your practice. Please take a moment to review this document.

GROUP A STREP TESTING UPDATE
June 3, 2019
Alverno Laboratories is pleased to announce that throat cultures for Group A Strep will now be processed on the WASPLab utilizing ChromAgar for an improved turnaround time. The new turnaround for throat cultures and Strep A screens will be 24 hours and specimens must be submitted in an E-swab to be processed by the WASPLab. Please continue to order the Comprehensive Throat Culture if other organisms other than Group A Strep are suspected.

TESTING UPDATE
June 18, 2019
Alverno Laboratories is pleased to announce the return of blood lead testing in-house for an improved turnaround time. Blood lead analysis will be performed on our PerkinElmer NexION® 2000 Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS). Specimens should continue be collected in lead-free tubes for analysis.

PRE-SURGICAL STAPH. AUREUS SCREENING, NASAL BY PCR
July 9, 2019
Alverno is pleased to announce the addition of PCR methodology to your screening options. See page 2 for details.

Pre-Surgical Staph. aureus Screening, Nasal by PCR

July 9, 2019

Alverno is pleased to announce the addition of PCR methodology to your screening options.

Clinical Use
Used as a pre-operative screening for either Staphylococcus aureus Methicillin-Sensitive (MSSA) or Methicillin-Resistant (MRSA) colonization as an infection control measure.

Clinical Background
Staphylococcus aureus is one of the leading causes of surgical site infection. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that it accounts for 14% to 16% of all nosocomial infections. Nasal colonization with either S. aureus or MRSA has been demonstrated to be an important independent risk factor associated with the increasing incidence and severity of surgical site infections after orthopedic surgery. Pre-surgical screening and subsequent decolonization of Methicillin-Sensitive or Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus carriers has shown to be a cost-effective strategy to reduce post-surgical infections and resulting extended hospital stays.

Note: Pre-surgical Screening does not include an MIC panel.