Specimen Requirements

Submit only 1 of the following specimens:

Dermal Specimens

Collect lesion and dermal specimens using a Universal Viral Transport collection system. If a culture transport swab is not available, an Eswab is acceptable. (Calcium alginate-tipped swab, wood swab, or transport swab containing gel is not acceptable for PCR testing.) Send specimen refrigerated. Maintain sterility and forward promptly. Note: Specimen source is required on request form for processing.

Spinal Fluid

0.5 mL of spinal fluid. Do not centrifuge. Send specimen refrigerated in a screw-capped, sterile vial. Maintain sterility and forward promptly. The high sensitivity of amplification by PCR requires the specimen to be processed in an environment in which contamination of the specimen by VZV DNA is not likely. Note: Specimen source is required on request form for processing.

Minimum Sample Volume: 

0.3 mL