Indian academy of cytologists national guidelines for cytopathology laboratories for handling suspected and positive COVID-19 (SARS-COV-2) patient samples

Indian academy of cytologists national guidelines for cytopathology laboratories for handling suspected and positive COVID-19 (SARS-COV-2) patient samples

Bharat Rekhi, Ram Nawal Rao, Indranil Chakrabarti, Prabal Deb, Madhusmita Jena, Nalini Gupta, Madhu Mati Goel, Arvind Rajwanshi, Radhika Srinivasan, Sandeep Mathur, Parikshaa Gupta, R. G. W. Pinto, Dev Prasoon, Vijay S Nijhawan, Venkat Iyer, Meherbano Kamal, Siddaraju Raju, Surendra Verma

COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. This scenario has impacted the way we practice cytopathology. Cytology laboratories receive fresh and potentially infectious biological samples including those from the respiratory tract, from COVID-19 positive or suspected patients. Hence, the Indian Academy of Cytologists thought it necessary and fit to bring forth appropriate guidelines starting from transportation, receipt, processing, and reporting of samples in the COVID-19 era. The guidelines are prepared with the aim of safeguarding and protecting the health care personnel including laboratory staff, trainees and cytopathologists by minimizing exposure to COVID-19 so that they remain safe, in order to able to provide a continuous service. We hope that these national guidelines will be implemented across all cytopathology laboratories effectively.

2020

Guidelines, Cytology, Cytopathology, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19

DOI: 10.4103/JOC.JOC_44_20

Journal of Cytology

Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications

Cytology