As viral infections like Ebola and Marburg pose severe threats globally, a novel innovation offers promise to boost early detection and containment. A team of researchers has developed a ground-breaking laboratory toolkit designed to assist frontline healthcare institutions in performing basic laboratory examinations critical to the management of patients with suspected viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs), diseases well-known for their high contagion and substantial morbidity and mortality rates. Such a solution is essential to swiftly detect and isolate individuals potentially infected with VHF, minimizing the risk of further virus transmission.
In the United States, frontline healthcare facilities often grapple with the identification and isolation of patients who may be infected with VHFs. This is largely due to the low prevalence and non-specific symptoms associated with these conditions. Additionally, a gap exists in established laboratory protocols for routinely testing patients for these diseases, leading to increased risk of workplace exposure in case of a positive sample. To address these gaps and the lack of accurate diagnosis of VHFs, researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital have created a Laboratory Testing Toolkit. The toolkit is based on evidence-based approaches, innovative tools, and education and uses guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments quality standards, and other established resources.
The toolkit is divided into two primary components: a base plan outlining facility-level planning of laboratory testing for a suspected VHF patient and an appendix of resources including checklists, templates, and other resources to assist with local adoption. It provides a comprehensive overview of laboratory testing while underlining the importance of infection prevention and control measures. After careful refinement through expert opinion validation, the Toolkit was distributed to acute care facilities within the Mass General Brigham healthcare system during the winter of 2023-2024 as a benchmark for best laboratory practices.
Although the toolkit is a significant step forward in enhancing preparedness and readiness for frontline laboratory testing of VHFs, it does not address certain limitations. It does not, for instance, provide information on verification protocols, laboratory test training, proficiency testing, or competency assessment. As such, clinical laboratories should adopt additional measures to tackle these issues before implementing patient testing and reporting.