Diagnostic Stewardship - Wound Swabs
13 May 2026
There are a limited number of clinical scenarios where sending a wound swab to the laboratory can add clinical value. We have reviewed these indications and they are listed below: Wound infection with accompanying systemic signs (e.g. fever/tachycardia) Infected wounds not responding to standard empiric treatment Infected post-surgical wound Infected bite wound Infected burn wound Infected penetra…
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Test Updates - HbA1c, FIB-4 Index, FT3
17 April 2026
HbA1c: Updated Diagnostic Thresholds The Diabetes National Clinical Network has issued updated HbA1c diagnostic thresholds to align New Zealand reporting with global standards and to support improved patient outcomes. Diabetes: HbA1c ≥ 48 mmol/mol (lowered from the current ≥ 50 mmol/mol). Prediabetes: HbA1c 42 – 47 mmol/mol (increased from the current 40 mmol/mol). Normal: HbA1c 53 mmol/mol. HbA1c…
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Single Site Blood Culture Sampling for Adults
09 April 2026
Single-site blood culture sampling is now recommended as the standard approach for adult patients requiring blood cultures, except where specific clinical indications necessitate sampling from separate sites. Single-site sampling involves collecting the full recommended blood volume from a single peripheral venipuncture and inoculating all bottles. “Separate-site sampling” should only be considere…
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Platform Change Infectious Serology Assays
24 March 2026
Please note that several infectious serology assays performed at Pathlab are migrating from the Abbott Alinity platform to the Beckman DxI9000 and Diasorin Liaison testing platforms. These changes will take place over the next couple of weeks: !New Infectious Serology Testing Platforms Table The new assays have all been verified by Pathlab for the purposes of quality assurance. HIV, syphilis, and…
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Indications for Sputum Culture in the Community Setting
13 March 2026
Sputum culture is in general a low value microbiology test, due to poor sensitivity and specificity in identifying bacterial pathogens. In addition, the vast majority of results do not change patient management. We analysed 3200 sputum samples between July 2023 and June 2024. 6% of the total samples grew a respiratory pathogen that was resistant to amoxycillin, and only 0.7% of the sample cohort g…
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