I’ve just been compiling some statistics
from the laboratory workload in 2012, and thought there may be people geeky
enough to be interested.
Last year 2012, the laboratory performed
over 53 000 examinations. The top 5
being:
|
TEST
|
NUMBER PERFORMED IN 2012
|
|
Total Malaria
Tests
|
14044
|
|
Haemoglobin
|
13687
|
|
Urine
examination
|
4631
|
|
Blood grouping
|
3368
|
|
ESR
|
2815
|
Overall, 27.9% of patients tested for
malaria were positive, (although this was 39% for under 5 years of age). Most of the malria testing was performed by
Thick blood Film (11181 ), with only 2163 being performed by rapid test as the
supply of rapid test kits is unreliable.
Of 13687 Hb tests performed, 568 were
<5g 13119="" and="" dl="" were="">5g/dL
The blood bank performed 3368 blood groups
and transfused 1436 units of blood.
Almost half of these units (709) were collected from patient relatives
by the laboratory
663 Full blood picture tests were performed
(Although however this number approximately half that of previous years and is
due to the analyser being out of service for a number of months)
876 patients were counseled and tested for
HIV, and of these 7.6% (67) were positive.
1464 tests for HIV monitoring by CD4 count
were performed.
827 patient were tested for syphilis, and
of these 9.9% (82) were positive.
The laboratory performed 2129 examinations
for stool microscopy and 4631 urine microscopy.
We found presence of shistosoma in 268 patient, hookworm in 3 patients,
Giardia lambliae in 24 patient and stongyloides in 22 patients.
1192 patients were tested for Tuberculosis,
and 15.6% of these were positive (186).
In Biochemistry, 5181 tests were performed,
the most common being Blood Glucose (2540), Creatinine (2393), ALT (74), and
AST (64). 36 CSF samples were tested for
glucose and protein.
These statistics show that we are a busy
laboratory, although nothing on the scale of the UK laboratories that I have
been used to. The range of tests
available is much more limited, and
reflect the main health problems in Tanzania – Malaria, TB and HIV.
