Supply chain issues are improving, resulting in ability to bring gonorrhea and chlamydia PCR testing fully in house as of Tuesday, September 7, 2021.  Turnaround times will decrease from days to hours but note that sample collection requirements will change.

For gonorrhea and chlamydia PCR (procedure panel O56115, or individual PCR tests): Urines should be transported in the urine collection kit (Stores #143671).  Endocervical, vaginal, throat, rectal, and urethral swabs should be collected with the Cepheid swab collection kit (Stores #143672).

The laboratory will call providers if specimens are incorrectly collected for in-house testing for a period of 2 weeks, and mailout testing or recollection for in-house testing will be offered at the provider’s discretion.

We do not anticipate additional supply chain problems with this testing but due to the unpredictable nature of COVID-19’s impact any further updates will be provided in future broadcasts.

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