Cerebrospinal fluid is a potentially infectious material and standard precautions must be followed. These guidelines apply:
- Use appropriate personal protective equipment.
- Semi-automatic micropipettes and disposable plastic counting chambers are the safest option for manual CSF counts.
- If disposable materials are not used, soak contaminated reusable pipettes, hemocytometer, and coverslip in 70% alcohol or other disinfectant that is approved for this purpose by your laboratory.
- All disposable items must be placed in a biohazard container for appropriate disposal.
- Wash hands thoroughly upon completion of the CSF analysis.
- Spinal fluid samples that will be discarded must be placed in biohazard containers for appropriate disposal.
