As Ebola virus has infected thousands of individuals in West Africa, there is growing concern about the appropriate response of hospitals in developed nations caring for @entity1 and handling laboratory specimens for @entity1 suspected of @entity2598 ( @entity2598 ). Guidelines for caring for @entity2598 @entity1 are proliferating rapidly from national and state public health authorities, professional societies, and individual hospitals. It is no surprise that they differ from one another, and some very conservative recommendations call for suspension of routine laboratory testing, including pretransfusion testing. @entity2598 is transmitted by direct contact with blood, secretions, organs, and other body fluids and not by airborne routes. Based on experimental and observational data, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that clinicians follow contact and droplet precautions. Laboratory personnel are required to follow the blood-borne pathogen standard, especially the use of appropriate barriers consisting of gloves, gown, goggles, mask to cover nose and mouth, and plexiglass shield, where splashes of potentially @entity166 materials may be generated. Their recommendations are permissive of clinically appropriate laboratory testing, including pretransfusion testing, using barrier isolation precautions. Most individuals with suspected @entity2598 will have a fever of another etiology, such as @entity3964 @entity311 . We believe that forgoing all routine pretransfusion laboratory testing may result in a greater increase in poor clinical outcomes than any diminution in the risks to laboratory personnel will justify. It is imperative for all laboratory directors, working with @entity281 control and safety personnel, to evaluate their hospital policies for potentially @entity166 @entity1 and provide a safe environment for their @entity1 and employees.

XXXX , transmission risk to laboratory personnel, and pretransfusion testing.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients'] @entity2598 :: ('MESH:D019142', 'Disease') :: ['Ebola virus disease', 'EVD'] @entity281 :: ('MESH:D007239', 'Disease') :: ['institutional infection'] @entity3964 :: ('5833', 'Species') :: ['Plasmodium   falciparum'] @entity311 :: ('MESH:D008288', 'Disease') :: ['malaria'] @entity166 :: ('MESH:D003141', 'Disease') :: ['infectious']
@entity2598 :: (MESH:D019142,Disease) :: ['Ebola virus disease']
