Transcription

• Elizabeth McMahon

  The latest on food allergen testing. The CAP's test modules keep you current. Plus, a spotlight on the eyes and ears of Walter Reed's pathology labs. These stories and more next. This is the Path News Network Daily Edition from the College of American Pathologists. I'm Elizabeth McMahon. It's Thursday, April 23rd. Shellfish, nuts, wheat. Dairy. For more than 33 million people in the U.S., these foods, and nearly 170 others, require constant vigilance against an allergic reaction. While food allergen screening is common for labs, the tests can be overordered, overused, and misinterpreted, leading to unnecessary dietary restrictions and stress. The CAP's test ordering program provides essential information on food allergy testing to support your lab's responsible stewardship. In an occasional series exploring the test modules, we spoke with Dr. Elizabeth Weinzierl, Chief of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. She's the author of the CAP food allergen testing modules and a parent of a child with a food allergy. She told us about new approaches that can bolster testing accuracy.

• Dr. Elizabeth Weinzierl

  There is additionally now a development of what are called component resolved diagnostics or CRD. So that's where they take the protein to which, you know, most people are allergic to the proteins in these allergens. And they break it down into these specific individual allergenic molecules within these proteins. And then you can test on those. And those that can help actually differentiating, for instance, in the peanut world, whether you're truly allergic based on which of these components you're reactive to versus it's a cross reactivity and it probably doesn't indicate a true food allergy.

• Elizabeth McMahon

  Dr. Weinzierl, also a member of the CAP's Quality Practices Committee, says that allergists are essential partners in food allergen testing, noting that the gold standard will always be a food challenge test done in the office.

• Dr. Elizabeth Weinzierl

  The allergists that you work with in your system, they are extraordinarily knowledgeable about knowledgeable about all this testing. And, you know, when we work on building panels and such, we certainly consult with them and work together to really offer in our test menu what is necessary for best patient care. I mean, I think it's always going to be a relationship between the lab and the clinicians who are, you know, essentially experts on this to make some of these decisions.

• Elizabeth McMahon

  Learn more about testing for food allergens and test modules in chemistry, microbiology, immunology, and others at the Test Ordering Program tab on the CAP's Laboratory Improvement page. If you're a fan of escargot, this next story might give you pause. A parasite that lives inside slugs and freshwater snails is making its way from its native tropical Asia to the U.S. and Europe, among other locations. The brain-invading parasite causes rat lungworm disease, or neuroangiostrongliasis, and it's as bad as it sounds. The infection starts when people consume raw or undercooked gastropods that have previously dined on poop from infected rats. Untreated, the disease can cause significant neurologic syndromes and even death. In a new perspective piece in MedPage Today, Dr. Claire Dunavan you Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases at UCLA, relays her experience treating and tracking the disease, which was identified most recently in San Diego County and Hawaii. Dr. Dunavan says vigilance is key as the disease emerges more widely due to globalization, climate change, and evolving human behaviors. Imagine taking a working vacation where you learn from renowned experts in the morning and enjoy fun, sun, and family bonding time in the afternoon. That balance of learning and leisure is the name of the game during CAP's Pathology in the Park running July 15th through 17th at Disney's Boardwalk Inn in Florida. Former participant Dr. Jordan Reynolds, Director of Cytology and Professor of Pathology at Mayo Clinic, said the courses allowed him to get up to speed in areas where he needed more knowledge, then relax.

• Dr. Jordan Reynolds

  It was really a nice opportunity for us to let my family spend time on the grounds and with their family members while I went to the courses. The other thing is I thought they did a good job of the time management. They had the heavy duty coursework in the mornings and the social events and free time in the afternoon, which allowed us to have a nice balance of education and fun with the family.

• Elizabeth McMahon

  Head over to the CAP homepage to find out how to register for Pathology in the Park and explore the 12 CME sessions. And finally, this week the CAP has been celebrating a global community of lab professionals during U.S. Lab Week. Among the unsung members of some lab teams are pathologist assistants who help with grossing or the dissection and analysis of tissue specimens, among their other tasks. This week, the Defense Department's Information Service you shines a spotlight on Walter Reed National Medical Center's pathologist assistants who gross all the samples coming through the world's largest military medical center. Walter Reed's pathology department supports ill and injured service members returning from battle overseas. Anatomic pathologists and their PAs examined wound patterns, explosive damage, and trauma effects to guide triage, evaluation, and treatment. Lab director Dr. Shilpa Rungta calls the PAs her eyes and ears. Quote, they're laying the groundwork for everything we must do, she said. Find a link to the article in the show notes. That's all for today's Daily Edition. Be sure to check the show notes for more information on today's stories. Got a story you'd like us to cover on the Daily Edition? Write to us at stories at cap.org. We're back at 5 a.m. Eastern for another episode of the Daily Edition. I'm Elizabeth McMahon. Have a great day.