ArticlePloS one2019
Common causes of EID sample rejection in Zimbabwe and how to mitigate them.
Article in PloS one, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Sample Rejection Rate, Reasons for Rejection and Associated Factors Among Clinical Specimens Requested for Diagnostic Testing at Debre Tabor Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, South Gondar Zone, North West Ethiopia, 2025: A Cross-Sectional Study.Health science reports · 2026Article
- Pre-analytical errors during HIV viral load (HIV-VL) and early infant diagnosis (EID) testing in Cameroon.PloS one · 2026Article
- Early infant diagnosis: a pillar in preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission - a narrative review.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2025Review
- Trends and determinants of laboratory specimen rejection rates at Debre Markos comprehensive specialized hospital in Ethiopia.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Article
- Laboratory specimen rejection rate and associated factors among referred specimens at Debre Markos Referral Hospital, Ethiopia: prospective cross-sectional study.The Pan African medical journal · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
Early infant diagnosis (EID) of HIV provides an opportunity for early HIV detection and access to appropriate Antiretroviral treatment (ART). Dried Blood Spot (DBS) samples are used for EID of exposed infants, born to HIV-positive mothers. However, DBS rejection rates in Zimbabwe have been exceeding the target of less than 2% per month set by the National Microbiology Reference Laboratory (NMRL), in Harare. The aim of this study was to determine the DBS sample rejection rate, the reasons for rejection and the possible associations between rejection and level of health facility where the samples were collected. This is an analytical cross-sectional study using routine DBS sample data from the NMRL in Harare, Zimbabwe, between January and December 2017.A total of 34 950 DBS samples were received at the NMRL. Of these, 1291(4%) were rejected. Reasons for rejection were insufficient specimen volume (72%), missing request form (11%), missing sample (6%), cross-contamination (6%), mismatch of information (4%) and clotted sample (1%). Samples collected from clinics/rural health facilities were five times more likely to be rejected compared to those from a central hospital. Rejection rates were above the set target of <2%. The reasons for rejection were 'pre-analytical' errors including labelling errors, missing or inconsistent data, and insufficient blood collected. Samples collected at primary healthcare facilities had higher rejection rates.
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