COVID-19-related supply chain issues are improving, resulting in ability to bring CMV PCR from plasma and CSF in house as of Monday, March 1, 2021.

Please note changes to testing:

1. Samples will be run daily, with a cutoff of noon for same-day results.
2. Results will now be reported in International Units, which may introduce discontinuity in trended results previously reported in copies per milliliter.  Older results in copies/ml can be converted to IU/ml for comparison by multiplying by 1.72.
3. If CMV testing on plasma is ordered with other tests such as Epstein Barr virus PCR on the same tube, plasma volume may be too low as non-CMV viruses require additional sample.  Please ensure that tubes are full if possible.

Questions concerning this broadcast can be directed to Bradley Ford, MD, PhD, Medical Director of Microbiology; (ext. 6-2990, bradley-ford@uiowa.edu; *8290).