What advantages does meconium drug analysis using Mectest offer over urine analysis?
Urine analysis is not a practical method to use to determine the exposure of newborn infants to drugs in utero. Considering the very low specificity of urine analysis the test is no more that 50% accurate. A negative reading does not necessarily mean the infant was not exposed to drugs in utero. Additionally, timing in urine collection is critical. Urine analysis may not detect the presence of drugs if the mother stopped taking the drug weeks before the urine collection. Drug metabolite in meconium, on the other hand, may be detected from the 12th week of gestation. The risk of contamination during and following the collection of urine is greater than with meconium. The stability of meconium once collected is ideal for serial or batch testing. Meconium if left in the feces container with the Mectest solvent can be analyzed within 72 hours without refrigeration. Meconium, as is, can be frozen indefinitely.
