Perfect vs practical: utilizing hematology thin smears for the diagnosis of Plasmodium and Babesia

In the manuscript entitled "Hematology Thin Smears Perform Equally to Parasitology Thick and Thin Blood Smears for the Diagnosis of Plasmodium and Babesia in a Low-Prevalence Setting," the investigators demonstrate that traditional hematology smears (HS) review can have comparable performance to formal blood parasite smears (PS) review. The authors quote a 93.3% sensitivity in comparison to thick smears. This increases to 100% considering only new diagnoses. The implications are that HS can be utilized as a practical and rapid alternative to PS. For clinical laboratories that are limited to only HS capabilities, these findings suggest that they may be able to be less reliant on reference laboratory PS testing, allowing for more rapid diagnosis and management. Even in clinical laboratories that offer both tests, the findings suggest a reassessment of how both HS and PS fit into the diagnostic process for blood parasites. Familiarity with the pros and cons of both approaches allows them to be employed in a way that maximizes patient care impact.