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)