TABLE 3.
Comparison of U.S. ETC and European HLIU laboratory supporta
| Laboratory support | No. of centers with support/total no. of centers surveyed (%) |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. ETCs overall | European HLIUs |
|||
| Microbiological test | Routine test | Overall | ||
| Testing within isolation unitb | 44/47 (94) | 8/47(17) | 13/48 (27) | |
| Testing in hospital laboratoryc | 44/47 (94) | 24/47 (51) | 41/48 (85) | |
| Testing in reference BSL-3 laboratoryd | 34/47 (72) | 32/47 (68) | 15/48 (31) | |
| Access to BSL-3 containment laboratorye | 40/44 (91) | 39/48 (81) | ||
| Access to BSL-4 containment laboratorye | 0/47 (0) | 11/48 (23) | ||
See reference 17.
Within isolation unit was defined as a location within the patient room or other room contained in the isolation area.
Hospital laboratory testing was defined as access to a clinical laboratory for U.S. ETCs and tests performed in a central hospital laboratory (general laboratory with or without closed-type automated analyzers) for European high-level isolation units.
Reference laboratory for U.S. ETCs was defined as access to a public health laboratory.
European high-level isolation units reported access to BSL-3 and BSL-4 containment facilities for diagnosis within the same facility/city, while U.S. ETCs reported BSL-3 and BSL-4 containment facilities within accessible clinical and public health laboratories.