Laboratory Tests

The Mater Olbia analysis laboratory provides the following services: medical chemistry, microbiology and immunometry.

The service is available weekdays, Monday to Saturday from 7:00 am to 10:00 am.

Entrance will take place without an appointment complying with social distancing and safety policies established by the Health Ministry. Safety measures require that patients:

• enter the emergency triage in order to measure their temperature, check personal protection devices and fill out a questionnaire
• wear an identification bracelet given by the emergency triage
• go, wearing the bracelet, to the registration window to process the administrative documentation and then to the adjoining bloodwork area.

Services provided in agreement with the National Healthcare Service require a medical prescription from the general practitioner or from the outpatient service specialist written only electronically or computer-based. If patients do not have prescriptions services are available upon payment.

Patients are reminded that for blood tests to be more reliable it is necessary to come to the appointment on an empty stomach for at least 8 hours.

In compliance with safety measurements, laboratory test reports will be received exclusively via e-mail using an access password with a possible alert request via sms. In case it is not possible to open the report patients can write to cuplaboratorio@materolbia.com.

The laboratory is spread out over a total area of 300 square meters and carries out over 500 various types of analysis, the majority of which are done on site. Services are implemented ensuring safety regarding patients’ data management, process traceability and monitoring of analytical quality.

The laboratory has instrumental equipment in accordance with the most modern technologies and employs a highly qualified and specialized staff. Test tubes, identified by barcode labels, are placed directly on the devices and analysis is carried out without any type of manipulation by the operator. The production lines undergo internal and external quality checks.

Serological tests for SARS-CoV-2 antibody research

The Analysis Laboratory of the Mater Olbia Hospital is authorized, with the decision made by the Director General of Health Services n. 666 of August 3, 2020, to provide serological tests for the research of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.

Tests can be requested by employers in order to implement screenings for their employees or collaborators, as well as by private citizens.

Individual serological tests, aimed at identifying the level of IgG and IgM antibodies in order to verify a possible exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, can only be done privately (thus, under no circumstance at the expense of the National Healthcare System) and upon presenting a medical prescription.

It is important to know that serological tests against SARS-CoV-2 are not useful for diagnostic purposes and, therefore, cannot replace a molecular test based on the identification of viral RNA from nose and throat swabs. A negative serological test result does not exclude the possibility that an infection is occurring at an early stage and the correlated risk of that person being contagious, while a possible positive test result does not mean that an infection is occurring. Serological tests can, nonetheless, be useful for epidemiological research and evaluation of the viral spread in order to obtain information regarding the actual prevalence of the SARS-CoV-2 infection in the general population or in communities/companies at greater risk of spreading. Thus, tests allow monitoring during the pandemic, including an efficiency evaluation of the prevention measurements put in place in various contexts of living and work environments.

Tests can be done by going in person to the Registration Area of the Blood Test Outpatient Office of the Mater Olbia Hospital (open Monday to Saturday from 7:00 am to 10:00 am) without an appointment.

It is not necessary to be on an empty stomach (but one must avoid eating heavy meals). Test results will be available within 24/48 hours.

In the event the result is positive, the Mater Olbia Hospital is obligated to inform the Prevention Department with the territorial jurisdiction for the consequent public health requirements such as self-isolation and the implementation of molecular tests (nose and throat swab) to identify SARS-CoV-2 with costs at the expense of the National Healthcare System.

Fees for serological tests are 25€ for IgG antibody test, 25€ for IgM antibody test.

The laboratory methods used are the CLIA and/or ELISA techniques with a specificity not less than 95% and a sensibility not less than 90%, in accordance with ministerial indications (Health Ministry Circular n. 16106 of May 9, 2020), which are able to reduce the number of false positive and false negative results.

Nose and throat (swab) SARS-CoV2 molecular diagnosis

For information and to make an appointment consult the specific page