Malaria Thick Smear
Preparation
Preparing the Slide
 Place the Malaria label on the frosted end of the
slide. Conduct the fingerstick and fill the
Microtainer.
 Using the pipette, place a drop of blood (not all of
the blood in the pipette tip – just over half) onto
the slide. Make sure it is on the same side of the
slide as the label’s barcode.
Preparing the Slide
 Spread the drop of blood with the end of the
pipette tip to make an area about 1 cm in
diameter.
 Correct thickness is attained when you can
barely read newsprint through the smear.
Spreading Out Thick Smear
Drying and Storing the Slide
 Stand the slide box on end and place slide into
the slide box. Make sure slide is level, as it
would be if placed on the table.
 Do not lay slide box down (such that the slide is
vertical) until the smear is mostly dry. This may
take approximately 25 minutes.
 When slides are dry, put lid on slide box and
wrap with rubber band.
Malaria Slides Drying in Box