Is manual reticulocyte count a reliable option for under resourced countries?

Objectives: To establish the credibility of manual reticulocyte counts without compromising the quality of care, and to evaluate the degree of acceptability of manual reticulocyte counts in terms of accuracy and cost effectiveness in comparison with two automated haematology analyzers.

Methods: Visual reticulocyte enumeration was evaluated for comparability, within-batch precision and costing with respect to Coulter STKS and Gen S haematology analyzers.

Results: The results of reticulocyte estimation for 80 samples as obtained by 3 modes were correlated using Pearson's correlation coefficient (r) which were computed as 0.