What is the first thing a phlebotomist should do in the event of an accidental needle stick?
Match each of the following definitions associated with heart disease and heart failure to the term that it defines.
1. Congestive heart failure
2. Infarction
3. Ischemia
4. Angina
The correct response is option B: The Hepatitis B "e" Antigen (HBeAg). This antigen indicates the virus is actively replicating and therefore the patient is very infectious. The hepatitis B "e" antigen is present when the virus is actively replicating. In cases of unintentional needlesticks, infectivity is of highest concern. The risk for infection is greatest during phases of increased HBeAg serology. The Hepatitis B surface antigen is the first detectable marker, but if the patient is known to have Hepatitis B already, it would be relatively unhelpful to confirm the condition with another HBsAG test. The core antigen is not detectable because it is covered by the nuclear envelope. Antibody response patterns would not be very helpful either as the patient has already been diagnosed with acute Hepatitis B. IgG antibodies would indicate recovery, which is not the case for this patient and IgM antibodies indicating a recent or acute infection would only confirm what is already known. Recall, in cases of unintentional needlesticks, infectivity is of highest concern.
A phlebotomist at a local hospital recently had an accidental needle stick while drawing blood from a patient being treated for acute hepatitis B. Which serological marker from the patient would be of most value to the physician evaluating the phlebotomist's possible infection status?
"Universal donor", (a misnomer) is usually applied to group O, Rh negative blood. Although it may be necessary to use group O, Rh negative blood in an extreme emergency, it is preferable to use type specific blood for emergencies.
In an extreme emergency , if the ABO and Rh type are unknown which of the following should be given to the patient?
Animals serve as a reservoir of infection" is the correct answer because Shigella only infects humans while Salmonella is found in many animals. Both have diarrhea as the major symptom. Endotoxin is produced by all gram negative bacteria and exotoxin is only produced by Shigella.
A major difference between Salmonella enterica and Shigella infections is that only in salmonellosis can:
The FTA-ABS is used to confirm that a positive non-treponemal test like RPR is not the result of a biological false positive, which occur in about 1 to 10 percent of the population.
A positive RPR test and a negative FTA-ABS test is most likely the result of:
The concentration of circulating ferritin is proportional to the size of iron stores.
Which of the following will give the best overall picture of a patient's iron stores:
According to OSHA, Hazard Communication 1910.1200 has the purpose of ensuring that the hazards of all chemicals produced or imported are evaluated, and that information concerning their hazards is transmitted to employers and employees.
Also known as the "Right To Know Law," which one of the following OSHA regulations first dealt with specific information related to the contents of chemicals used in the workplace?
HbA1C is the recommended test for monitoring diabetic carbohydrate management. Microalbuminuria, low concentrations of urinary albumin, is measured to detect early renal impairment, at a stage where it is reversible with treatment.
What is the role of microalbuminuria testing?
The difference between plasma and serum is that:
The correct designation for a generalist laboratory professional with a bachelor's degree certified by the American Society for Clinical Pathology is
Monoclonal antibodies are usually produced by:
The results of this PT and aPTT are in normal range. These results can be reported and are not indicative of the need to: order a mixing study or request a redraw.
You have just performed stat PT and aPTT tests on your coagulation instrument. Your results are as follows:
PT = 12 seconds (normal range 10-13 seconds)
aPTT = 24 seconds (normal range 21-34 seconds)
What would be your next step?
A combination of (nonselective) 5% sheep blood and (selective) MacConkey agars is sufficient for the recovery of the pathogenic microorganisms that are most commonly encountered in urinary tract infections (UTIs). MacConkey is the selective culture medium that is most commonly used to inhibit growth of gram-positive organisms (most UTIs are caused by gram-negative organisms).
Eosin methylene blue (EMB) is a selective agar that also inhibits the growth of gram-positive organisms. Therefore, using only a combination of MacConkey and EMB would prevent the detection of a gram-positive organism, if this were the cause of the infection.
Chocolate agar or other enriched media may be needed in addition to blood and MacConkey if a more fastidious organism is suspected.
Thayer-Martin would be used specifically for recovery of Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Thayer-Martin (or Modified Thayer-Martin) inhibits other microorganisms and allows the selective recovery of both N. gonorrhoeae and N. meningitidis.
Microbiology
Which culture agar combinations below will usually be sufficient for MOST routine urine culture investigations?
A patient has a WBC count of 4,000/mm3, a platelet estimation with 3 bizarre platelets/oil immersion field, hemoglobin, hematocrit, red cell count and indice values are within normal limits. Blue-staining inclusions are seen in the cytoplasm of many neutrophils. These inclusions fit the description of:
