Telediagnosis helps labs identify malaria

Medical Laboratory Observer, Sept, 2004

Telediagnosis helps labs identify malaria. The World Health Organization reports that more than 1 million deaths from malaria occur annually, with 90% of these fatalities in sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria is rare in the United States, however, and laboratory workers are not always sufficiently familiar with its microscopic diagnosis.

The CDC now offers telediagnosis to help laboratorians diagnose malaria and other parasitic diseases. When laboratorians are not certain about identifying parasites on a slide, they can e-mail to the CDC images of the suspected parasites. Experts then review the images and discuss findings with the submitting lab within only a few hours, allowing near real-time diagnosis as well as an opportunity for training in microscopic diagnosis. For more information, contact dpdx@cdc.gov.