In this month's "Hot Topic," Bobbi Pritt, M.D., describes the challenges to traditional microscopy for the detection of protozoa in stool specimens, lists potential uses of artificial intelligence in parasite detection, and discusses workflow modifications that may be needed when implementing digital slide scanning and AI-assisted interpretation.
In this month’s “Hot Topic,” Elitza Theel, Ph.D., talks about Mayo Clinic Laboratories’ serologic and molecular testing for the identification of infection with dengue virus. Dengue virus poses a significant public health threat worldwide. Rapid and accurate identification of the infection enables directed monitoring of patients who may be at increased risk of developing hemorrhagic fever of dengue shock syndrome.
A recent BuzzFeed article reported on 22-year-old Katie Stephens and her boyfriend, Eddie Zytner, a Canadian couple who recently went on a beach vacation in the Dominican Republic. During their vacation, they both developed cutaneous larva migrans, a skin infection caused by hookworms. Bobbi Pritt, M.D., Director of the Clinical Parasitology Lab and Co-Director of Vector-Borne Diseases Lab Services in Mayo Clinic’s Department of Lab Medicine and Pathology, weighs in on the infection.
An algorithm is a step-by-step procedure to guide clinicians and laboratorians in appropriate laboratory test ordering.