{"id":18336,"date":"2024-02-27T16:05:47","date_gmt":"2024-02-27T16:05:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/?page_id=18336"},"modified":"2025-07-10T14:31:37","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T13:31:37","slug":"virology","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/guidelines\/laboratoryservices\/virology\/","title":{"rendered":"Virology"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Virology services include laboratory-based and clinical support services.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Full details of the laboratory services are available on the <a href=\"https:\/\/edinburghlabmed.co.uk\/\">Lothian laboratory website.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Please also see details for\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/covid-19\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Covid-19 testing<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><u>Contacting Virology<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For routine advice please contact:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"mailto:virologyadvice@nhs.scot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">loth.virologyadvice@nhs.scot<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>0131-536 3373 option 2 between 9am and 5 pm, Monday to Friday.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Outwith hours, for urgent advice, please call the RIE switchboard and ask for the Virology consultant on call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><u>Specimens<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The standard virology transport medium is called MSS (Molecular Sample Solution) and can be ordered through PECOS:<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"940\" height=\"164\" src=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/files\/sites\/2\/image-16.png\" alt=\"MSS Swab collection kit - Procurement details\" class=\"wp-image-19659\" srcset=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/files\/sites\/2\/image-16.png 940w, https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/files\/sites\/2\/image-16-300x52.png 300w, https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/files\/sites\/2\/image-16-768x134.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 940px) 100vw, 940px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"media-credit\">NHS Lothian<\/span> image copyright RefHelp<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"865\" height=\"338\" src=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/files\/sites\/2\/Virology-swab-1.png\" alt=\"Virology swab\" class=\"wp-image-18416\" style=\"width:471px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/files\/sites\/2\/Virology-swab-1.png 865w, https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/files\/sites\/2\/Virology-swab-1-300x117.png 300w, https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/files\/sites\/2\/Virology-swab-1-768x300.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 865px) 100vw, 865px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"media-credit\">NHS Lothian<\/span> image copyright  of RefHelp<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>C.M. &amp; S.P. 28-05-24 <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Virology services include laboratory-based and clinical support services.&nbsp; Full details of the laboratory services are available on the Lothian laboratory website. Please also see details for&nbsp;Covid-19 testing. Contacting Virology For routine advice please contact: Outwith hours, for urgent advice, please call the RIE switchboard and ask for the Virology consultant on call. Specimens The standard<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":4080,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1085],"class_list":["post-18336","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-https-apps-nhslothian-scot-refhelp-virology"],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"heatherlevy","author_link":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/author\/heatherlevy\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":" <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/category\/laboratoryservices\/https-apps-nhslothian-scot-refhelp-virology\/\" rel=\"tag\">Virology<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Virology services include laboratory-based and clinical support services.&nbsp; Full details of the laboratory services are available on the Lothian laboratory website. Please also see details for&nbsp;Covid-19 testing. Contacting Virology For routine advice please contact: Outwith hours, for urgent advice, please call the RIE switchboard and ask for the Virology consultant on call. Specimens The standard","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18336"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24607,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18336\/revisions\/24607"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apps.nhslothian.scot\/refhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}