Laboratory Test Directory

Patient Preparation

 

Collect

Serum separator tube. "Post" specimen should be drawn 30 days after immunization.  

Specimen Preparation

Separate serum from cells ASAP or within 2 hours of collection. Transfer 1 mL serum to an ARUP Standard Transport Tube. (Min: 0.2 mL) "Pre" and "post" vaccine specimens can be submitted separately or together for testing; if shipped separately, "post" specimen must be received within 60 days of "pre" specimen. Mark specimens clearly as "Pre-Vaccine" or "Post-Vaccine".  

Storage/Transport Temperature

Refrigerated.  

Unacceptable Conditions

Plasma or other body fluids. Contaminated, hemolyzed, or severely lipemic specimens.  

Remarks

 

Stability

After separation from cells: Ambient: 48 hours; Refrigerated: 2 weeks; Frozen: 1 year (avoid repeated freeze/thaw cycles)  

Antibody concentration of > 0.1 IU/mL is usually considered protective.

Responder status is determined according to the ratio of a one-month post-vaccination specimen to pre-vaccination concentration of tetanus IgG antibodies as follows:

1. If the post-vaccination concentration is less than 1.0 IU, the patient is considered a nonresponder.
2. If the post-vaccination concentration is greater than or equal to 1.0 IU, a patient with a ratio of less than 1.5 is a nonresponder, a ratio of 1.5 to less than 3.0, a weak responder, and a ratio of 3.0 or greater, a good responder.
3. If the pre-vaccination concentration is greater than 1.0, it may be difficult to assess the response based on a ratio alone. A post-vaccination concentration above 2.5 IU in this case is usually adequate.

See Compliance Statement B: www.aruplab.com/CS