Main lab, Microbiology, Referral/Sendouts

Measles Ordering and Collecting Specimens

With several suspected cases of measles within Michigan, we thought it would be an excellent time to highlight Corewell Health West’s guidance on testing suspected patients. Specimens are sent to a reference lab for testing, which must be coordinated with local public health departments. Typically an upper-respiratory swab (throat or nasopharyngeal)  is collected for PCR testing in addition to a serum for measles IgM if collection is possible.

  • Patients should not be directed to a Corewell Health Laboratory or other healthcare facility for serum collection if patient is within 4 days after the onset of rash (with onset of rash considered to be Day 0). If Day 5 of rash or later, immunocompetent patients are no longer considered contagious and may be sent to a laboratory for a serum draw.
  • Corewell Health Providers:
    • Please reach out to Corewell Health Infection Prevention (IP) via Perfect Serve to make them aware of the situation.
    • Corewell Health Infection Prevention will contact the appropriate county.
  • Non-Corewell Health Facilities:
    • The provider’s office must coordinate with the county health department that the patient lives in to obtain permission to send measles testing.
    • Visit the following link for county health department contact information: Slide 1 (michigan.gov)
      • The county will coordinate with MDHHS for testing permission.

The preferred testing specimen is a throat or nasopharyngeal swab collected in office. Corewell Health Laboratories do not collect swabs.

For further collection and ordering instructions, please visit: Measles PCR – Laboratory Test Catalog | West

Any additional questions or concerns, please use the contact us link above or reach out to your local health department.

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