Pneumocystis jirovecii PCR (Molecular Microbiology)
General information
Collection container (including preservatives):
CE marked leak proof container
Specimen type: EDTA blood, BAL, sputum
Specimen transport: Ambient or refrigerated
Minimum volume of sample: 500µl
Special precautions: If processing is delayed,
refrigeration is preferable to storage at ambient temperature.
Delays of over 48hr are undesirable.
Laboratory information
Measurement units: Threshold Cyle (CT)
Turn round time for provisional result (calendar
days): 3 days
Turn round time to final result (calendar
days): 4 days
Clinical information
Clinical decision points: Not applicable
Factors known to significantly affect the
results: False negative results may occur for a variety of
reasons, for example inappropriate timing of sample collection,
inappropriate sample, presence of virus below the detectable limit
of the assay. New and emerging variants may also occur which may
not be detected by this assay. Towards the limit of detection of an
assay sampling variation will result in lower reproducibility.
(Last reviewed October 24th 2017)