Specimen Requirements
- Swabs inoculated with infected material immersed in gel transport media
- Body fluid in syringe with air and needle removed
- Tissue in small amount of sterile saline in sterile container
Supplies for Submission
Culture Swab (1) or Sterile Container (1)
Storage Requirements
Room Temperature.
Swab specimens are stable if stored at room temperature for under 72 hours.
However, tissue or body fluid in sterile containers (not swab) are stable for 24 hours.
Causes for Rejections
Specimens with the following conditions are not accepted:
- gel swabs arriving at the referral lab more than 2 days after collection
- urine samples that are not suprapubic aspirates
- swabs submitted in non-gel transport media
- swabs submitted in expired transport media, viral transport media, or formalin fixative
- submitted in leaky container or non-sterile container
- dry swabs
- frozen samples